Otmaro Ruiz is a Venezuelan pianist, keyboardist, composer, arranger, and educator. He began formal musical studies at age eight, focusing on piano, classical guitar, harmony, and aesthetics at the Juan Manuel Olivares Music School in Caracas. While initially pursuing biology at the Simón Bolívar University, he kept playing keyboards and landed his first professional work in a pop group in 1980, eventually shifting to music full‑time by 1983. Ruiz moved to Los Angeles in 1989 and earned a master’s degree in jazz performance from CalArts in 1993, during which time he collaborated with artists including Alex Acuña and later recorded and toured with Arturo Sandoval, Jon Anderson, Robbie Robertson, and multi‑Grammy‑winning vocalist Dianne Reeves, among others. His album Distant Friends was released in 1995. Ruiz was nominated for the Best Arrangement, Instrumental and Vocals at the 58th Annual Grammy Awards in 2016 for his arrangement of "Girl from Ipanema" from Catina DeLuna and Lado B Brazilian Project, featuring Otmaro Ruiz.
