Esteban Urzelai Eizagirre
He holds advanced diplomas in Piano from the San Sebastián Higher Conservatoire, and in Choral Conducting and Orchestral Conducting from Musikene (the Basque Country’s Higher Centre of Music), where he studied with Maruxa Llorente, Gabriel Baltés, Arturo Tamayo and Enrique García Asensio. He sang with the European Youth Choir and the choir of the Internationale Bachakademie Stuttgart, working with conductors such as Frieder Bernius, Johannes Prinz, María Guinand and Helmuth Rilling.
With over twenty years of professional experience in choral leadership, he has worked in leading institutions: he served as Associate Conductor of the Orfeón Donostiarra (2007–2020), Chorus Director at Ópera de Oviedo (2020–2021), and Associate Conductor of the Spanish National Choir (2021–2025). He has also directed Oñatiko Ganbara Abesbatza, the children’s and youth choirs of the Orfeón Donostiarra, the Basque Youth Choir, and the Orfeón Vasco of Madrid. In 2018 he founded Suhar korua, a lower-voices choir with which he has given more than forty concerts and won five first prizes at the 53rd Tolosa International Choral Contest in 2023.
He works closely with the Choral Federations of Gipuzkoa and the Basque Country, forming part of the teaching staff of their Academy of Choral Conducting. He maintains an active profile as guest conductor, pedagogue and juror at several national and international competitions.
