Born in Tarija, Bolivia, Arduz began studying music with his hometown legend, maestro Ernesto La Faye “Don Ernesto” in 1973. He attended four international guitar seminars with Uruguayan maestro Abel Carlevaro in Montevideo, Uruguay. Arduz obtained the title of Superior Professor of Guitar at the Madrid Royal Superior Conservatory in Spain. He has directed the Tarija Chamber Orchestra since its creation and taught at La Escuela Municipal de Música Regional y Arte Pastor Achá Martínez [The Municipal School of Regional Music Pastor Achá Martínez]. He has held concerts in Bolivia, Spain, and Argentina. His compositions and arrangements have been premiered and performed in Spain by the Alfar Duo and Gabriel Estarellas; in Germany by the Trío Arabesque; in Japan by Gentaro Takada; in Argentina by Camerata Lyrum; in Bolivia by the National Symphony Orchestra of Bolivia, the Tajira Chamber Orchestra, and the Orquesta Sinfónica Departamental de Tarija [Departmental Symphony Orchestra of Tarija]; and by various Bolivian and foreign guitarists. Arduz’s body of work includes musical compositions and books. The books he published throughout his lifetime include the Música Boliviana para Guitarra [Bolivian Music for Guitar] (1993); Alfredo Domínguez, Obras para Guitarra [Alfredo Domínguez, Works for Guitar] (2002), and Pequeñas Obras y Estudios para Guitarra [Small Works and Studies for Guitar] (2004). He co-edited El Libro Música y Cantos Tradicionales de Tarija [The book of music and Traditional Songs of Tarija] (1999) with Dr. Lorenzo Calzavarini. Arduz has also collaborated with his daughter, Adriana Arduz Mendieta, to make the interactive album Enciclopedia de Música Chapaca [Encyclopedia of Chapaca Music] (2008) and with the Tarija Chamber Orchestra to record the album Tarija y la Música de él [Tarija and his music] (2009). In 2013, he released the album Paisajes: Fernando Arduz [Landscapes: Fernando Arduz]. Arduz also received recognition for his work, including the “Premio Plurinacional Eduardo Abaroa” [Eduardo Abaroa Plurination Award] from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the Plurinational State of Bolivia in the category of Folk music arrangement for symphony orchestra for his work Vida, pasión y muerte de Juan Cutipa de Alfredo Domínguez [Life, passion, and death of Juan Cutipa by Alfredo Domínguez] in 2014. The Ministry of Education awarded him the “ Maestro of Arts in Music” title in 2015. He passed away in Tarija in December 2021.
