To mark, in 2011, the 50th anniversary of the death of Jesus Guridi, a series of tributes have been organised beginning with the performances at the Teatro Arriaga de Bilbao of the zarzuela “El Caserío”, where Miguel Ortega will conduct the Coro Rossini and the Orquesta Bilbao Philarmonia on the 21, 23, 25, 28 and 29 January. You can consult the full concert programme.

The organist and composer Jesús Guridi Vidaola was born into a family of musicians in Vitoria in 1886. He began learning the organ in his hometown and at 18 he was accepted at the Schola Cantorum in Paris, where he studied organ with Decaux, composition with Sérieyx, and counterpoint and fugue with Vincent D'Indy. Later, he moved to Liege (Belgium) and Cologne (Germany). He was professor at the Conservatory of Bilbao and, in 1944, at the Conservatory of Madrid, where years later he became director.

His work, heavily inspired by Basque folklore, ranges from chamber music (string quartets), vocal and orchestral works, and pieces for organ and church music, to the genres of opera and operetta. Among his major works, particular mention should be made of Así cantan los niños (1909), Mirentxu (1910), Amaya (1920), La meiga (1929), Six Castilian Songs (1939), Ten Basque melodies (1940), Pyrenean Symphony (1945), and el Caserío (1926), a zarzuela that unfolds in a Basque setting and which was a huge success.

See the catalogue of works by Jesús Guridi available from Tritó >