Beti bizi takes its name from the flower that traditionally decorates the costumes of dantzaris. The project emerged from an encounter between ancient verses collected by Xabier Amuriza at village festivals in Bizkaia, the voices of a selected group from Leioa Kantika Korala under the direction of Basilio Astulez, and the arrangements of composer Xabier Sarasola from Beasain, a specialist in vocal harmonisation and a deep connoisseur of Basque tradition as a former txistulari and dancer.

Kantika already had previous experience working with Kepa, including a brief journey to the Celtic Connections festival in Glasgow. The music of the album combines different traditional dances from Euskal Herria —banangoa, zahagi dantza, arku dantza, txotxongiloa, aurreskuarena— with the coplas, creating an unusual experiment in which both traditions ultimately fit together naturally. Ten years earlier, Amuriza had compiled Bizkaiko kopla zaharrak together with Tapia eta Leturia, now reinterpreted through a contemporary perspective.

Following the first meeting between Sarasola, Basilio and Kepa at the Beasain Music School, the composer described the project as “very special, highly innovative and at the same time attractive.” His main challenge was adapting the texts to the different vocal parts without compromising either rhythm or the essence of the music, while Basilio carefully selected sixteen singers out of fifty candidates, aged between eleven and nineteen, in order to represent the choir as fairly as possible.

The working process combined simplicity with rigour: Sarasola sent arrangements written for female vocal quartets, Kepa supervised and created the musical bases together with José Luis Canal (piano) and Unai Mimenza (programming), and everything was then transmitted to the choir through detailed scores. The vocals were recorded in groups and with click track guidance, demanding a high level of discipline from the young singers, who also learned the corresponding choreographies for the presentation concerts, fully aware that these pieces would not become part of Kantika’s regular repertoire.

Basilio highlights both the complexity and beauty of Sarasola’s arrangements: “It is beautiful music, but extremely demanding.” After two decades of collaborating with Kepa on various projects, Sarasola himself was impressed by the final result: “The choir is the foundation, but all the musical work surrounding it surprised me —full of imagination and with impeccable production.” As an additional surprise, the composer himself participated as a singer on the final piece, “Gaztaina koloreko”, alongside Amuriza.

The origin of the project dates back to an encounter between Kantika and Kepa at his studio while recording a tourism promotion spot for Euskadi, where the strong connection between them became immediately evident. From that moment onward, the idea of collaborating gradually evolved into this unique work, combining tradition, innovation and a profound respect for the music and voice of the Basque people.

Record label: Hiri Records. Production: Kepa Junkera.