Trío Zukan wins the Etxepare Basque Institute Prize at the Musika Bulegoa Awards

Euskara. Kultura. Mundura.

2022-05-18

Ten Basque artists and groups were honoured at the sixth Musika Bulegoa Awards, held at the BEC in Barakaldo on 17 May. Trío Zukan was awarded the Etxepare Basque Institute Prize for their work in taking Basque music beyond our borders.

The Euskal Herriko Musika Bulego Elkartea Association (EHMBE) made its final selection from over a hundred artists, half of them women. The awards were created to highlight the value of the Basque music industry, to promote and publicise the work of artists, and to serve as a showcase to the world. The event was attended by representatives of various institutions, as well as more than a hundred professionals from the sector, including: musicians, producers, managers, and programmers.

This year’s jury, made up of eight industry professionals, awarded prizes to eight artists or groups of artists: Amak, Chill Mafia, Ether Ensemble, Ramon Lanzako, Gaur, Maite Larburu, Olatz Salvador and Verde Prato. Each of the winning projects received 2,000 euros and a sculpture designed by Fernando Mikelarena.

The EHMBE board of directors awarded a special prize to the group Motxila 21 "for their solidarity and collaboration between musicians". Motxila 21 also received the Mikelarena sculpture.

Different styles of music were submitted to this call: pop-rock-urban, contemporary classical music, folk, jazz, and electronic music, among others. Basque was the main language of most of the projects (59%), although there were more instrumental pieces in the running year (22%). The rest of the works were in Spanish (11%) and almost one in ten projects was in another language.

As in previous editions, audiences at the BEC were were able to enjoy the show live. Performances were given by Chill Mafia, Gaur, Ether Ensemble, Maite Larburu, Verde Prato and Amak. María Ereña, who sang the chorus of the song Zurekin Batera by ETS, and the group Txalaparta Beat kicked off the event, presented by journalist Amaia Artetxe.

This sixth edition of Musika Bulegoa Sariak was sponsored by the Department of Culture and Linguistic Policy of the Basque Government, the Department of Culture of the Provincial Council of Bizkaia, the Etxepare Basque Institute and LABORAL Kutxa.

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