Pablo Ortiz, an assistant professor of music composition at the University of California, Davis, will receive a $12,500 Charles Ives Fellowship, to be awarded in May by the American Academy of Arts and Letters, which is honoring 15 American composers this year. The Ives fellowship is given to a "composer of extraordinary gifts" and is made possible by a bequest from Harmony Ives, widow of academy member Charles Ives, and funded by royalties from the publication and performance of Ives' music. The academy was established in 1898 to foster, assist and sustain an interest in literature, music and the fine arts. Each year, it awards a total of $700,000 to artists, architects, writers and composers. Ortiz, who joined the UC Davis faculty in 1994, composes chamber and solo music, vocal, orchestral and electronic music. He has also written music for plays and films. His music has been performed at international festivals in Salzburg, Geneva, Frankfurt, Zurich and Sao Paulo. Among those who have performed his compositions are the Buenos Aires Philharmonic, the Arditti String Quartet, Speculum Musicae, the San Francisco Contemporary Music Players, the Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble and the UC Davis Contemporary Music Players. In 1993 he received a Guggenheim fellowship. Prior to his work at UC Davis, Ortiz taught composition and was co-director of the Electronic Music Studio at the University of Pittsburgh from 1990 to 1994. Ortiz, Argentinian-born, was trained in Buenos Aires, where he received a degree from the Universidad Catolica Argentina. At 27, he went to New York to study at Columbia University. At UC Davis, Ortiz teaches the campus's first film music class. When he arrived on campus, Ortiz said the music department's electronic studio was appealing. "Most of my pieces are for conventional instruments, but once in a while, when I have a chance, I write for electronic media," Ortiz said. The Academy will honor Ortiz and the 14 other recipients of composition awards on May 15 in New York City.