Hots Abesbatza is a choir of white voices created in September 2016 under the direction of Aitor Biain Bidarte. It is currently composed of about 40 women from Oñati and neighbouring towns, and counts with the participation of the pianist Amaia Zipitria.
Hots Abesbatza, together with Ganbara Kantu Eskola, Oñatiko Ganbara Abesbatza and the orchestra Aequus Ensemble conform Ganbara Faktoria.
Since its creation, as a sign of its commitment to society, Ganbara Faktoria has wanted to do its bit through music, addressing different issues in the field of social responsibility. An example of this are the audiovisual productions that Hots Abesbatza has carried out with solidarity objectives and/or to shake consciences:
- “Oroimenean”: (performance and cd recording) production that stages the theme of Alzheimer's, created for choir, piano, string quartet, narration and dance.
-“Amalurra”: show created for choir, piano, bertsolari and dance. A journey through nature, giving importance to the elements of the earth, water, fire, air, animals, the forest, the night etc.
-“Gaueko andreak”: show created for choir, piano and narration, focused on characters from Basque mythology.
-"Gaixorik nago, eta zer?": a show created for choir and piano with the aim of staging the reality of cancer from the point of view of a sick person, accompanied by multimedia resources.
Every year, on the occasion of the celebration of International Women's Day on March 8, and being a choir of white voices, it organizes different events to recognize and value the work of women, such as:
- Visibilization and recognition of the responsibilities and work that women have historically assumed.
- Staging of songs written by women composers.
Another of Hots Abesbatza's commitments is to promote the creation of Basque compositions. An example of this are the works by Junkal Guerrero, Eva Ugalde and Josu Elberdin, created on commission for the above-mentioned productions.
Finally, we must not forget that, beyond the time and effort dedicated to the field of social responsibility, Hots Abesbatza has important challenges in the world of choral music, for which it works on continuous improvement and development with discipline and self-demanding. Proof of this are the results obtained in the competitions in which it has participated: [2024] “ LV Certamen de la Canción Marinera” (San Vicente de la Barquera): 3rd prize; [2023] 71st International Polyphony Competition “Guido d'Arezzo” (Arezzo, Italy): 1st place in its category; [2022] “49 Certamen Coral de Ejea de los Caballeros” (Zaragoza, Spain): 3rd prize and audience award.
His musical path started by learning clarinet, saxophone and voice (Music School in Oñati). Later on, he studied voice (School of Music Jesus Guridi), Pedagogy of Music (Musikene), Choir and Orchestral conducting (Musikene), Master of Musical Research (UNIR) and training in Cultural Management. On the other hand, he was awarded a Computer Science Engineering Degree by Mondragon University. He has undertaken several conducting courses and seminars with the most prestigious Maestros. He is the conductor to the Choir of the University of the Basque Country, the “Orfeón of Bergara”, the Chamber Choir of Oñati, Hots Choir, and Little – Petite Chamber. He has won many awards, particularly, the ones received as Best Conductor (Tours/France and Arezzo/Italy International competitions). He has conducted and edited 5 disc recordings and has released more than 30 choral works. He also offers workshops and seminars quite often. He is member of the choir KUP Taldea. He has been conductor of the Oñati Wind Band and the Aequus Ensemble symphony orchestra.
In the 2019-21 season he was conductor of the EHGA choir (Euskal Herriko Gazte Abesbatza) with Basilio Astulez.
Amaia Zipitria Zugasti was born in Andoain (Guipuzcoa). She was trained in Andoain by Luis Franca and Myriam Ulanga, in San Sebastian by Gonzalo Trevijano, in Baiona by Mme Doué and at the Rotterdam Conservatory by Barbara Grajewska. She graduated with the highest marks in piano and chamber music.
She was a member of the J.O.N.D.E. (Spanish National Youth Orchestra) from 1993 to 1998 and has played in various orchestras such as R.T.V.E., O.N.E., Sinfónica de Euskadi, Sinfónica de Bilbao... under the direction of great conductors.
Her concert work has taken her to venues such as the National Auditorium in Madrid and Barcelona, Zaragoza, Seville, Malaga, Oviedo, Euskalduna in Bilbao, Kursaal, etc. and outside Spain in Croatia, Italy, France and England.
Amaia's recordings include the Sonata No. 2 by Jesús Villa-Rojo with cellist Asier Polo (NAXOS) and the chamber version of Babar, Poulenc with members of the Cadaqués Orchestra (TRITO). At present she's a teacher of repertoire in Musikene and plays for the "Orfeon Donostiarra".
If any association, group or individual is interested in contacting with us, you can write to the mobile phones or e-mail addresses provided below. If not, you can also write down a message and send it to the mailbox of this same page. We will try to answer back as fast as we can.