ABOUT US

Ensemble Kuraia was founded in Bilbao in 1997 by the composer María Eugenia Luc, its current artistic director. The group’s main goal consists in making contemporary composers’ works available to a broader public, while providing the composers with a high quality ensemble they can collaborate with.

Ensemble Kuraia has performed all over Spain and abroad (Germany, France, Italy, Belgium, Mexico, Peru, El Salvador…), winning acclaim from both the general public and the specialized critics: “one of the ensembles of contemporary music of reference in Spain” (Scherzo), “an excellent interpretation” (Ritmo), “an excellent ensemble” (Docenotas), “solid and very capable” (El diario vasco, Spain), “of the highest quality” (El Comercio, Peru). The group has a variable number of musicians, adapted in every case to the demands of the project. All its members stand out as brilliant technicians with genuine musical qualities, backed up by the experience of a solid professional and soloistic career.

The critics have praised the Bilbao ensemble on several occasions: “one of the contemporary music ensembles of reference in Spain” (Scherzo), “all with excellent performances by the Ensemble Kuraia” (Ritmo), “fantastic musicians” (Diario Información), “an excellent ensemble” (Doce notas), “solid and very capable” (El diario Vasco), “of very high quality” (El comercio, Lima).

Some of these concerts have been recorded and broadcasted on the Spanish National Radio (RNE-Radio Clásica) and radios of many countries of Europe and America.
Quality, variety and innovation are the features that make Kuraia Ensemble’s proposals stand out. These include the realization of documentaries, CD and DVD recordings (Orpheus and Sintonía Label). His CD “De aire y luz” dedicated to music by Luc received in 2016 the Gold award by Melómano review. In 2014 the ensemble collaborated with Yoko Ono in her performance “Sky piece to JC”. Other projects includes portrait concerts of important spanish composers such as Luis De Pablo, Joan Guinjoan, Félix Ibarrondo, José Manuel López López, and also the premieres of new chamber operas and music theater productions, among which we could mention some XXth century masterworks such as “L’histoire du soldat” (Strawinsky) or the czech composer Viktor Ullman’s opera “Der Kaiser von Atlantis”.

Ensemble Kuraia commissions contemporary composers and develops programs for the diffusion of contemporary music and pedagogical projects in collaboration with the Klangzeitort of Berlin, the Guggenheim Museum of Bilbao, the University of the Basque Country (UPV-EHU) and Musikene-Centro Superior de Música del País Vasco.
Ensemble Kuraia‘s concerts have been broadcast live by RNE-Radio Clásica and other radio stations in Europe and Latin America.
Among the composers who have personally collaborated with Kuraia are: Leonardo Balada, Luis De Pablo, Joan Guinjoan, Félix Ibarrondo, Ramón Lazkano and José Manuel López López López.
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Ensemble Kuraia count with sponsorships by Culture Ministry-INAEM of Spanish government, Basque government, Diputación Foral de Bizkaia, Bilbao Council, Fundación SGAE, AIE, Musikabulegoa and Etxepare Basque Institut.

History

Concerts, tours, cycles and all the activities of Ensemble Kuraia year by year.