Maria Noel Luzardo Fornella

A student of Maestro Hugo Pierre, María Noel Luzardo Fornella was the first graduate from the Saxophone Chair at the “Carlos López Buchardo” National Conservatory of Music (Argentina), in 1992 where she held the Saxophone Chair after her professor’s retirement.

She was awarded several prizes, such as the “Art Biennial Competition”, “Argentina Music Competition”, and the “Buenos Aires First International Music Competition”.

Since 1994 she has played Solo Alto Saxophone at the “Buenos Aires City Symphonic Band”. Since 2006 she has been teaching saxophone at the “Manuel de Falla” Advanced Conservatory of Music (Buenos Aires.)

She took part in many recording works by Argentine composers. María Noel also recorded two CDs featuring Chamber Music for Saxophone with pianist Martha Fornella – her mother. Eventually, these works were presented to audiences of Canada and the United States in successful concert tours.

She recorded two CDs with the “4MIL” Saxophone Quartet, one of them featuring unknown Works by Astor Piazzolla, Horacio Salgán, and Eduardo Rovira, and the other with contemporary argentine music. And very recently another CD for reed quintet with Argentinian original pieces for this ensemble.

María Noel has extensively played as a soloist with the Teatro Colón Philharmonic Orchestra, the National Symphony Orchestra (Argentina), the Mayo Chamber Orchestra, the La Plata Chamber Orchestra, the Tucumán Symphony Orchestra, the “Juan de Dios Filiberto” Argentine National Music, the S.O.D.R.E Orchestra (Uruguay), the Costa Rica National Symphony Orchestra, etc. She also toured Brazil and France with the Teatro Colón Chamber Orchestra, and is frequently invited to play with the most important orchestras throughout the country.

In 2009 the prestigious Konex Foundation bestowed the Merit Diploma upon her – a distinction bestowed in Argentina once every ten years in the field of Classical Music.

María Noel was a member of the Jury in several important Saxophone Competitions in Costa Rica, Brazil, Buenos Aires and at the 8th Adolph Sax Competition in Dinant. Throughout the years she gave first performances of a large amount of works for different ensembles, many of which were dedicated to her. She is currently a member of the “4MIL” Saxophone Quartet –mainly focusing in the Argentine repertoire- the “CLAM” itinerant quartet (Cuarteto Latinoamericano de Mujeres Saxofonistas) –mainly working on the Latin American repertoire-, and the “TORRE 7” woodwind quintet.