María Martínez Ayerza was born in Cuenca, Spain, where she started her musical training. In 2000 she moved to The Netherlands to continue her studies with Paul Leenhouts at the Amsterdam Conservatoire (MMus 2006). She also studied Musicology at the University of Amsterdam (MA cum laude 2009). As a performer, María was awarded several prizes at international music competitions, amongst them the First Prize and the Walter Bergmann Prize at the Moeck/SRP Solo Recorder Competition in 2005.



In 2001 María joined The Royal Wind Music, a unique ensemble founded by Paul Leenhouts in 1997. Currently she is a member of the artistic direction of the ensemble. María is also co-founder of ÆroDynamic (active between 2004-2016), a trio of voice and two recorders specialised in the combination of medieval and contemporary music, and of recorder quintet Seldom Sene. With these ensembles, María performs regularly all over Europe and in the USA, has released fourteen CDs to date (Lindoro, Brilliant Classics and PAN Classics) and appeared on radio and television. 

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In July 2012 María was appointed Recorder Consort Professor at the Royal College of Music in London. She is also connected to the recorder department of the Amsterdam Conservatoire, where she teaches historical development and is a coach at The Royal Wind Music Academy. Besides, she teaches privately in Amsterdam and has offered courses and masterclasses in the Netherlands, Spain, Portugal, Belgium, Germany, Austria, the UK and Australia. Given her commitment to bring music to new audiences, María offered over 1000 short performances for young children at nurseries, community centres and primary schools in cooperation with the Memorable Moments Foundation, Amsterdam between 2006-2016.

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María is chief editor of Blokfluitist, the only specialised recorder magazine published in Dutch. She is co-initiator and manager of the Open Recorder Days Amsterdam, a biennial four-day international festival and competition that will be held for the fifth time in October 2021.