Born and raised in Aguascalientes, Mexico, Luis Ramirez (b. 1992) is a Mexican-Canadian composer renowned for his vibrant, rhythmically intricate textures and evocative soundscapes that blend Mexican folklore with cinematic storytelling. Jocelyn Morlock has praised him for his "great talent and imaginative, unique voice," a quality that has led to performances by major North American orchestras, including the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional de México, Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, and Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra.

Luis discovered his love for piano music at an early age, and his fascination with composition emerged through his interest in performing contemporary music. His perseverance through early challenges in Mexico has shaped his successful freelance career in Canada, where he has established himself as a dynamic and eclectic composer in the classical world.

In addition to being recognized as a NextGen Composer with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and a Composer Fellow with the Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra, Luis has earned accolades including first prize in the Large Ensemble SOCAN Awards and the CMC Prairie Region Emerging Composer Competition for his work Chido, an honorable mention from the Barlow Endowment for Music Composition for his work Singularity, and third prize in the Solo & Duet SOCAN Awards for his work Prompt. His compositions have premiered at international festivals including Festival Cervantino in Mexico, Chamberfest in Ottawa, Music on Main in Vancouver, Prisms Festival in Arizona, the Emerald Coast Chamber Music Festival in Florida, the Casalmaggiore Festival in Italy, and the Class Axe Workshops across Canada. Recent commissions include two works for the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Duo Concertante, Brandon Chamber Players, and The Happenstancers.

His research interests include internet culture and online music-making, with publications such as “The Humans and the Machine: Perceptual Differences Between Collective and Solo Performances” (IASPM 2022, Daegu, South Korea) and “The Online Composer-Audience Collaboration” (Innovation in Music: Future Opportunities, Routledge, 2021), the latter earning the George Proctor Prize for original research. His doctoral research was awarded the prestigious Joseph-Armand Bombardier CGS Doctoral Award from the 2019 SSHRC Doctoral Awards competition, and he was the first recipient of the Jacques Israelievitch Scholarship at York University, established to honour Toronto Symphony Orchestra’s longest tenured Concertmaster and one of York University’s most distinguished educators. Conference presentations span the IASPM XXI conference (Daegu, South Korea, 2022), MusCan Congress (2021), IASPM-Canada (2021), YouTube Conference (Lisbon, Portugal, 2020), Innovation in Music (London, UK, 2019), Carleton Music and Culture Symposium (2019), York University Research Gala (2019), AMS-NYSSL conference (2019), and the World Piano Conference (Novi Sad, Serbia, 2014).

Luis Ramirez, a multifaceted artist, seamlessly blends his roles as a composer, pianist, conductor, and scholar to enrich the contemporary classical landscape. He is currently completing his doctorate under Randolph Peters at York University. A graduate of Brandon University, he studied piano with Alexander Tselyakov and composition with Dr. Patrick Carrabré. His ability to draw from a broad range of influences while maintaining a cohesive artistic vision positions him as an exciting and evolving voice in the contemporary classical world.