Born in Santiago, Chile, in 1972, he studied acoustics in Chile where he started composing and performing music for different experimental theatre projects. In 1999 he moved to Denmark to do post-graduate studies in sound perception and studied composition privately with Anders Brødsgaard. In 2005 he pursued his composition studies at the University of York in England with Ambrose Field and Roger Marsh and obtained a PhD in 2008. He has taken part in composition master classes with, among others, Trevor Wishart, Bent Sørensen, Francis Dhomont, George Lewis and Chris Watson.

His work focusses on electronic music, compositions for dance and theatre and sound installations. His works have been performed in festivals across Europe, Asia and the Americas and received the first prize at the 2008 Citta di Udine International Composition Competition and the second prize at the 2008 CEMVA composition prize in Brazil. He also collaborated with Neil Sorrel in the music for the BAFTA-award winning radio play The Glass Man commissioned by BBC radio 4.

Felipe Otondo currently works as a lecturer at the Lancaster Institute for the Contemporary Arts at Lancaster University in the United Kingdom.