Francisca Fernández

Francisca Fernández is a psychologist from Universidad de Los Andes (Chile) and holds a Fellowship Diploma in Flute Performance from the London College of Music (UK). Her artistic career as a flutist, developed in both Chile and Peru, includes orchestral work, opera, chamber music, solo projects, international festivals, recordings, and multidisciplinary installations.

 

The onset of focal hand dystonia marked a turning point in her professional life, leading her to focus on psychology with a specialization in musicians and institutions dedicated to music education. From this experience, she created unanuevaflauta®, a platform focused on the mental health and wellbeing of musicians, centered on the intersection of discipline, compassion, and human development.

 

She is an advisory member of the Performance Health Care Committee of the National Flute Association (USA), and is certified in Essentials of Performing Arts Medicine by the Performing Arts Medicine Association (USA). She also trained in Compassion-Focused Therapy and Mindfulness-Based Emotional Regulation (MBER) with Dr. Gonzalo Brito Pons, and in Emotional Intelligence Mapping through Canvas for You® (Spain). She holds a diploma in “Art, Personal Development, and Shared Wellbeing” from Fundación Somos Polen (Chile), and recently completed training in Essential Dialogue Tools at the Nansen Center for Peace and Dialogue (Norway).

 

She taught at the School of Performing Arts at the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú, offering courses in Music, Performing Arts Creation and Production, Theatre, and Dance. As a cultural manager, she has led educational and community-based music projects, notably with the NGO Erart in Peru, and founded the Concert Season in San Cayetano, which aimed to connect the vocation of independent musicians with the cultural needs of the La Legua neighborhood in Santiago, Chile.

 

Throughout her career, she has received significant recognition, including the President’s Award (USA, 1998) and the Amigos del Teatro Municipal de Santiago Scholarship (Chile, 2001). She has performed at prominent festivals such as the Catholic University of Chile’s Contemporary Music Festival, the International Contemporary Music Festival of Lima, the Frutillar Musical Weeks, the Gamper Music Festival, and the Bowdoin Summer Music Festival (USA).

 

Francisca has been invited to give talks, workshops, and lectures in both national and international forums, combining insights from psychology, neuroscience, and sociology to explore the role of music in health, learning, and emotional life. In 2025, she was invited to present at Classical:NEXT (Berlin) with her talk “Fostering Innovation via Mental Health in Classical Music.”

 

Her work has been featured in specialized articles, podcasts in Chile and abroad, and is consistently recognized for its compassionate, profound, and human-centered approach to the life and career of the musician.