Maria Fernanda Gonzalez

Maria Fernanda Gonzalez is a Barquisimeto-based
multi-instrumentalist and journalist. After years of studying cuatro, mandolin
and violin, Maria decided to take up the bandola llanera, an obscure Venezuelan
instrument with well-known few female performers. Her blazing and virtuosic
performances on the bandola llanera have earned her prestigious slots on
numerous festivals including Festival of Música llanera the Silbón (Venezuela),
the festival Girara de Oro (Colombia), the 32nd Music Office Curitiba (Brazil),
The International Jazz Festival Barquisimeto (Venezuela) and Folklorico Summer
Festivals (Portugal and Spain). She currently teaches master classes on the
bandola llanera and is working on codifying and writing a new universal
teaching method for the instrument. Through performance and education, Maria
hopes to help the bandola llanera achieve worldwide recognition, “on the
scale of the venezuelan cuatro and the joropo llanero.”