María Guinand, awarded the 2009 Helmuth Rilling Prize by the Internationale Bachakademie Stuttgart, is a Venezuelan choral music educator who has gained international renown through her work as a conductor, teacher, and advocate of the choral art. A leader in the development of choral music education in Venezuela, she has been instrumental in the development and success of the Fundación Schola Cantorum and the choral program at the Universidad Simón Bolívar.

As part of her work at the Fundación Schola Cantorum, Guinand has taught hundreds of singers over the years and established an instructional system similar to that of the National System of Youth and Children’s Orchestras of Venezuela also known as FESNOJIV created by José Antonio Abreu. This system has allowed Guinand to impact the lives of many Venezuelan children through choral music, directly and indirectly. Furthermore, her work as a conductor of the Schola Cantorum and the Cantoría Alberto Grau has gained her numerous musical accolades, including a Grammy Award nomination in 2002 for Best Choral Performance for the recording of La Pasión Según San Marcos, composed by Osvaldo Golijov.

In addition, María Guinand was a professor of music at the Universidad Simón Bolívar for over twenty-five years. There she taught an array of music courses and conducted the Orfeón Universitario Simón Bolívar; under her direction, this choir recorded and toured extensively. One of her most important contributions to this institution is the creation of the master’s degree program in choral conducting, which has given her national and regional visibility.

As a leader and promoter of choral music, Guinand has been at the forefront of several organizations, including the Academia Bach de Venezuela, the International Federation for Choral Music, and the development of the Andean Project of Social Action through Music. This study documents and preserves a history of Guinand’s contributions within the field of choral music in Venezuela and abroad.