Maria Luisa Rayan-Forero
Internationally renowned harpist, María Luisa Rayan-Forero has performed to critical acclaim in the USA, Europe, Latin America and Japan. Described by the New York Concert Review as “Clearly an extremely talented, accomplished, experienced performer who can keep an audience listening with rapt attention, “Ms. Rayan-Forero has been performing all over the globe for the past twenty years, bringing to audiences a sense of musicianship and poetry in her playing.
Since making her first international appearance at the age of eleven in concert organized by UNICEF at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Ms. Rayan-Forero has come to be recognized as one of today’s highly sought-after harpists as a recitalist, chamber musician, soloist with orchestra, teacher and arranger of music for the harp.
Ms. Rayan-Forero has performed in major venues around the world, including the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires, National Concert Hall in Dublin, Musikgebouw in Amsterdam, Carnegie Hall in New York, Libby Gardner Hall in Utah and Geary Theatre in San Francisco. Her performances with orchestra include the National Symphony Orchestra of Buenos Aires, Entre Rios Symphony, Córdoba Symphony, Puerto Rico Symphony, Houston Symphony and other orchestras in the USA. Highlights of her chamber music performances include the Tanglewood Music Center of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the Brevard Music Festival in North Carolina, where she served on faculty, and the University of Chicago.
A consistent prizewinner at competitions internationally, Ms. Rayan-Forero was awarded the Silver Medal at the USA International Harp Competition in 1998 and 2001. Her long list of national and international distinctions include first prize in the Young Professional Division at the 13th American Harp Society Conference and the Anne Adams Scholarship Awards, as well as awards from the WAMSO Competition in Minneapolis and the Ima Hogg Competition in Houston.
Ms. Rayan-Forero was born in Concepción del Uruguay, Argentina, where she began studying the harp at age six with Elena Carfi. She completed her education at Indiana University, where she received her Master’s, Artist Diploma and Doctorate degrees as a student of Susann McDonald. She also served as an Associate Instructor for four years at Indiana University.
