María Guinand

Guinand is widely known from her association with La Pasión según San Marcos (St. Mark Passion) composed by Osvaldo Golijov.

It was premiered at the 2000 European Music Festival with the Schola Cantorum de Caracas[1] (now of Venezuela) and the Orquesta La Pasión.

Infused with the rhythms of both the popular and classical music of Latin America, La Pasión is a singular work and has been performed around the world under Guinand's direction.

Guinand attended Bristol University between 1973 and 1976 where she earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in music; there she focused on history and composition as well as orchestral and choral conducting, piano and voice.

During the 1980s she toured extensively with her choirs, participating in the Fifth Festival Choruses of the World (US), VIII Europa Cantat (Belgium), XIII Día Internacional del Canto Coral (Spain), IX Musique-en-Morvan (France), Aberdeen International Youth Festival (Scotland), IX Europa Cantat (France), XI Choralies A Choeur Joie (France), 1st World Choral Symposium (Austria), Festival de Música Religiosa"(Colombia).

As coordinator of the choral symphonic performances of the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra, during the 1990s, María Guinand prepared the choirs for many performances in Venezuela and abroad for renowned conductors such as: Eduardo Mata, Alberto Grau, Simon Rattle, Helmuth Rilling, Claudio Abbado, Edmon Colomer, Krzysztof Penderecki and Gustavo Dudamel among others.

In 1996, she was invited by the Oregon Bach Festival and Helmuth Rilling to conduct the World Premiere of "Oceana", a cantata by Osvaldo Golijov.

She lectured at the IV World Symposium for Choral Music (Netherlands) and was artist-in-residence at the Des Moines Children's Festival (US).

In this year, she also conducted the Orfeón Universitario Simón Bolívar during the First Choral Olympic Games held in Linz, Austria, where they won three gold medals.

She conducted the "Pasión según San Marcos" by Osvaldo Golijov in the US, Australia, Italy, the Netherlands, England, Portugal, and Venezuela and prepared the choir for the World Premiere of the opera "A Flowering Tree" by John Adams (composer), held in Vienna in 2006 and then performed again at the Barbican Centre in London in 2007.

Between 2003 and 2008, she was Guest Conductor of the Festivalensemble Choir Europeanmusikfest, (Stuttgart, Germany); Youth Choral Academy, Oregon Bach Festival (Eugene, Oregon, US), Women's Choral Festival, Alliance for Understanding (Salt Lake City, US), Repertory Singers (Edmonton, Canada); Jury Member CBC Choral Competition (Toronto, Canada); Guest Conductor New Zealand Chamber Choir (Auckland, New Zealand); Radio Choir (Louvain, Belgium), University of Miami (US), Festival 500 (Newfoundland, Canada); Director Concerts Andean Youth Choir (Bolivia, Ecuador); Guest Conductor Repertory Singers (Edmonton, Canada), Berkshire Choral Festival (US); Guest Conductor Vocalessence (Minneapolis, US); Member of the Artistic Committee 8th World Choral Symposium; Guest Conductor University Voices Festival (Toronto, Canada); University of Oregon Choirs (Eugene, Oregon, US), Workshops and Masterclasses at the ACDA Convention (Grand Rapids, US), University of Oregon (Eugene, Oregon, USA); Liederkranz (Oregon, US), Gottemburg Musik Academy (Sweden), Pollyfollia Festival (Normandie, France), 8th World Choral Symposium (Copenhaguen, Denmark).