Jabi Alonso

Bilbao, 1970

Born in Bilbao, he studied Percussion at the “J. C. de Arriaga” Superior Conservatory of Music with J. Manuel Gallardo, graduating with Honor Award. In 1998, he was graduated Uitvoered Musicus at Rotterdam Conservatory with Robert Van Sice and Miguel Bernat. In 2004 he obtained the Percussion Master from Yale University (USA).

He takes part in many different musical aspects as we can see by the time he was member of “Rabia” rock band when they published two Cds “Correr y Escapar”(1991) and “Ya no me puedo controlar”(1992).

Between 1992 and 1993 he was percussionist of the Txistu Band-Bilbao Council. In 1995 he was awarded the “Second Prize” in the “Permanent Contest for Young Interpreters” organized by “Musical Youth of Spain”.

From his intense chamber music activity with many different ensembles, it should be highlighted that from 1994 to 2004 he was part of the saxophone and percussion group “Inner Duo” and they published “Hots” CD. For more than 10 years he has been a member of the Espacio Sinkro Ensemble playing concerts in Barcelona, Galicia, Valencia, Granada, Seville and other cities in the United States, Canada, Portugal and Germany. With this ensemble he recorded 5 monographic CDs of basque composers such as Carmelo Bernaola, Félix Ibarrondo, Guillermo Lauzurika, Alfonso García de la Torre and Zuriñe F. Gerenabarrena. In 2018, he played with the Wind Band-Bilbao Council the premier of Sergio Gutierrez’s “Cántico Canticorum” concert for percussion and wind band.

From 1993 to 2011 he was principal percussionist and second timpanist of the Bilbao Symphony Orchestra. He appeared as a percu sion soloist with the orchestra in works such as: “Concert for two Pianos, Percussion and Orchestra” by Bela Bartok, “Grace” by Martin Bresnick with the marimbist Robert Van Sice, “Enbat” by Mª Eugenia Luc and “Des Canyons aux Etoiles” by Oliver Messiaen.

Since 1999 he has combined his work as a concert performer with percussion teaching in numerous courses throughout the geography of the State and different youth orchestras. He was percussion teacher for more than 10 years at the Conservatory of Music of Bilbao and Jesús Guridi of Vitoria-Gasteiz. Nowadays and since 2010 he is percussion professor at the Higher Center for Musical Studies of the Basque Country, Musikene.