José Fernando has built a successful international career as a flutist and instructor. He has traveled through the United States, Colombia, Germany, and the Netherlands, performing various styles of flute music. Before leaving Colombia, he performed with the Philharmonic Academy (Medellín, Colombia) multiple times, both as an orchestral member and as a soloist. He was also the principal flutist of the Antioquia Youth Orchestra and the University EAFIT band. In Berlin, Germany, he taught flutists in the concert band Rhythm & Melody, where he also performed as the lead and soloist.
He completed his undergraduate studies in flute at EAFIT University in 2012 under the guidance of Professor León Giraldo. In 2013, he traveled to Europe to earn his flute instructor certification in the Netherlands with Anke van der Bijl, while continuing his studies in Berlin with flutist Kornelia Heth. Under Professor Nina Assimakopoulos, he completed his master’s degree in 2017 at West Virginia University in the United States. He received consecutive awards for academic excellence from the WVU School of Music and was awarded the Canady Scholarship in 2016 and 2017. During his academic training, he taught undergraduate flute students at West Virginia University while also working with its Community Music program. Throughout his career, he has taken master classes with esteemed flutists such as Luis Julio Toro, Tadeu Cohelo, Gabriel Ahumada, Pedro Sagredo, Peter-Lukas Graf, Alberto Almarza, Conor Nelson, Linsey J. Goodman, and Leslie Newman. At WVU, he also completed a second master’s degree in the World of Languages, Linguistics, and Literature program. In 2019, he published his thesis in collaboration with the linguistics department on the relationship between vowel articulation and flute sound, titled: “Acoustics of Vowel Articulation in Flute Playing.”
Recently, he has been performing with his chamber music groups Alwa (flute and piano), Duo Espiral (flute duo), and La Nueva Estudiantina (a Colombian Andean music group). In collaboration with EAFIT University Press, La Nueva Estudiantina will publish a book under José Fernando Ramírez’s direction, featuring a selection of heritage works that capture the essence of Colombian Andean culture.
