Basques around the world

Kaixo lagunak!

Zer moduz?

The Symphony Orchestra of the Mariinsky Theatre opens the 71st edition of Donostia Musical Fortnight. The festival will be held from Saturday, August 7th to Friday, September 3rd.

Basque sailor Unai Basurko will begin a sailing expedition to the North Cape (Norway) this Saturday, August 7th. The aim of the expedition is to develop educational materials about the environment for primary students.

The mayors of Vitoria and Bilbao have both expressed their satifaction with the decision to bring the Spanish Vuelta back to the Basque Country in 2011 after a 34 year absence.

To finish with, Basque group Ken Zazpi have begun recording their latest album Hortzemugak Begietan which they will release at the end of 2010. Watch this video:

Don’t forget to have a look at our latest blogs:

Discover the Basque Country blog: Winemaker joins San Sebastian Food team! Jon Warren proudly announces that San Sebastian Food now has the expert knowledge and premium guiding of a very exciting young talent in winemaker Jean-Paul Trijsburg.

Basque Pelota blog: Virgen Blanca: Plain Sailing for Irujo and Beloki. Manomanista champion Juan Martinez de Irujo and Ruben Beloki qualified on Thursday with ease for the semi finals of the Torneo Virgen Blanca at Ogueta. They will now meet Xala and Barriola for a place in Monday’s final.

See you later!

Agur!

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Dear Basques,

How are you? We hope you are enjoying summer!

Let’s see what we have to offer you today:

Boise-born Basque brothers Javi (who recently made a documentary about Basque Shepherds in Idaho entitled Artzainak: Shepherds and Sheep), and Josu Zubizarreta called into Bilbao’s Eitb headquarters to explain how each has been looking more closely at the Basque Diaspora and the story of their forebears.

The 34th edition of Vitoria-Gasteiz Jazz Festival welcomes a very special guest today: Dianne Reeves, one of the most important and significant jazz singers of our time. She will be performing at Mendizorrotza Sports Arena, where saxophonist Joshua Redman will also play.

Watch also two videos of the concerts of Buddy Guys and Larry Carlton at Vitoria-Gasteiz Jazz Festival.

Residents of Pamplona have bid farewell to the San Fermines fiestas for another year, with a traditional rendition of ‘Pobre de mí‘. In addition, San Fermin Pelota final took place yesterday and Oinantz Bengoetexea and Patxi Ruiz won 22-12 against Titin and Pascual.  San Fermin final tournament that took place at Labrit fronton.

That’s all for today! see you soon!

Agur

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Hi Basques,

Sadly, our main news today is about Basque poet Sergio Oiarzabal, who died suddenly on June 12th at the age of 36. Award-winning Sergio’s family asked us to spread the sad news about their son and brother. Those who knew Sergio and want to leave a tribute will find a blogsite address contained in the obituary.

Big sports news is that Pelota start Martinez de Irujo won his fourth ‘txapela’ on Sunday in the final of the Manomanista. He beat Yves Xalaberri (better known at Xala). As always, Tiffany gives a full rundown of the match in her blog post, and there are also videos and photos to enjoy.

Lastly, Basques All Around the World member Mary Culley wrote on our Facebook Wall to inform us of the 4^th July Basque Festival in Elko Nevada. Check out Mary’s post or visit the website www.elkobasque.com.

Gero arte.

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Hello Basques!

The Basque town of Salvatierra/Agurain hosts the 30th edition of Araba Euskaraz, the festival of Basque schools in Alava under the slogan “Gogoz Biziz”.

The Arriaga Theatre in the Basque town of Bilbao is staging a new production of ‘Mirentxu’ with the Basque Symphony Orchestra from June 19th to 26th.

Watch today’s videos:

Basque dancers performed ezpatadantza (”sword dance”) in homage to Don Diego Lopez de Haro, who founded Bilbao 710 years ago.

Stairs in San Miguel (Vitoria/Gasteiz) are now ‘Piano Stairs’. Jesus Guridi Conservatory and the town council decided to celebrate the Music Day in this original way.

Cycling march in favor of road safety in Vitoria-Gasteiz. The aim of this march is to raise driver and cyclists’ awareness to respect each other.

New posts:

Dos paredes Basque Pelota blog: Asegarce sign Albisu

See you tomorrow!

Agur

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Kaixo Basques!

The 22nd edition of Getxo International Blues Festival kicks off on Friday, June 18th with the performance of the American blues-rock guitarist Eric Sardinas who will present his last work recorded together with his band Eric Sardinas & Big Motor. He will be accompanied by world famous Flamenco guitarist Raimundo Amador.

The 15/15 Film Festival provides an excellent creative opportunity for filmmakers to make a short film that is up to 15 minutes in length in 15 hours.

On Wednesday June 30th, the men and women of Bilbao will be canvassed to give their signatures to promote the city’s design sector. In line with the concept of Design, however, all signatures collected during the day will go towards a unique and innovative purpose.

New posts:

Dos paredes Basque Pelota blog: ‘Pelota on the Web, 19th-20th June: Manomanista Final’

Kepa Junkera’s blog In & Out: ‘Berriaren bizia’

Off the beaten track in the Basque Country: ‘Basque is sexy’

Learning Basque: ‘Ulertzen dut’

And please, don’t forget you can send us your photos of landscapes, skies and other images of nature that depict the state of the weather, and get to see them published on-line in Eguraldiblog.

Agur!

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Kaixo lagunak!

The prominent American trumpeter and jazz composer Wynton Marsalis recorded together with the virtuoso flamenco composer Paco de Lucia ‘Vitoria Suite’ from July 20th to 22th, 2009, paying tribute to the Basque capital Vitoria-Gasteiz. The 2CD album will be finally released on Tuesday, June 7th.

Sunday June 6th saw the start of ‘Visible Donostia 2010‘, the first LGTB Festival of Culture aimed at lesbians, gays, transsexuals and bisexuals in Donostia-San Sebastian.

30 young adults have been selected for ‘Gaztemundu 2010‘. The Basque Government directorate for Citizens and Basque Communities Abroad have decided who can participate in this year’s edition. Among them Chileans, Americans, Argentineans and Colombians.

Caja Laboral defeat Real Madrid 64-56, will play ACB finals. The Basques won the fifth game of the series and will play Regal Barcelona for the ACB championship.

To finish with, we have two new posts in two of our blogs:

In Basque Pelota blog: Manomanista: Xala trumps battling Asier to reach the final. The scoreline, which seemingly suggests an easy victory for the favorite, fails to tell the true tale of a match where nothing came easily. Xala was put under huge pressure.

And in Learning Basque blog:  Reflections of a Boisean learning Basque in Maizpide Basque School in Lazkao, Guipúzcoa.

Agur!

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Hello-

Well I don’t know what the weather’s like where you are, but it’s typical Basque weather here today. However, it would seem we’re promised good, stable weather for the weekend, so here’s hoping.

The big news on this side of the Atlantic is that ex-Rolling Stones bassist Bill Wyman is playing a gig in the Basque capital Vitoria on Friday night. He’ll be heading up his new band, ‘The Rhythm Kings’.

We have three exciting new blog entries, firstly on our Tourist ‘Off the Beaten Track’ blog; Kepa Junkera has left his latest post about this year’s Jaialdi; and catch the latest from Tiffany about the Pelota.

And for Athletic fans, a new signing. Alaves player Igor Martinez will play for the team next season.

Ondo pasa!

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Hi Basques,

As we explained when the group was formed, we endeavour to keep you abreast of all the most interesting goings on in the Basque Country.

The rain persists, so just as well our news can offer a ray of sunshine!

The best news today is that Bilbao has become the first city to win a Nobel prize! The Lee Kuan Yew World City Prize was launched last year by the city of Singapore in conjunction with the Swedish Nobel academy. By all accounts, the jury was impressed by the Biscay capital’s post-industrial regeneration.

Mugalari, of our Basque Tourism Blogue, has sent us his latest post. This one is entitled Some Places I Like in Bilbao You May Also Like, and suggests nine spots a bit out of the ordinary that could appeal to the more curious visitor.

Also for Pelota fans – don’t forget to check out the latest post on our Dos Paredes, English pelota blog. Tiffany’s latest post has some interesting news about the Final Four of the Manomanista.

That’s all for now.

Gero arte.

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Hi Basques,

We have a cracking item for you today Basques.  You might remember our previous articles about Ahizpak, two American-born Basque sisters from Nevada who moved to Boise eight years ago and started their own design company based on Basque symbolism.

Our latest article about them includes a video about one of the sisters – Maite – who came to EITB in Bilbao to pay us a visit and tell us first-hand about Ahizpak and what they’ve got planned for the upcoming Jaialdi festival.  Check out the article and video.

Meanwhile,  stay up to date with the latest news from the Manomanista with the latest entry on our Dos Paredes – English Pelota blog.

And lastly, much rain with a few sunny patches here and there have their (colourful) advantage, depending on where you’re standing of course! Enjoy these weather photos.

Laister arte.

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Good afternoon.

First up, ‘Basque’ member David Larrabee has sent us this interesting link: http://sacred-texts.com/neu/basque/index.htm, which throws up some interesting items on Basque legends.

Jon Warren has written an interesting entry into his diary which he’s posted on our ‘Discover the Basque Country‘ blog. Get an insight into Jon’s gastronomic adventures.

Jon’s partner on the new ‘Discover the Basque Country’ tour, Basque expert Paddy Woodworth wrote to tell us that the new venture has received coverage in two important US sites, as well as the good news that they have already received their first bookings.

Further news on our Dos Paredes pelota blog: This weekend, Group A will compete in the Manomanista, with Martinez de Irujo still the hot favourite. Find out the line-up here.

And on our Basque Country Live blog: read about adopted Basque Angela Linskey who left her home in Yorkshire almost 40 years ago and now runs an organic farm on renewable energies producing fruit jams and jellies. Also see some spectacular photos of Angela’s farmhouse Naera Haundi.

The debate rumbles on following Restaurant magazine’s publication of this year’s top 50 eateries: find out why Basque chef Juan Mari Arzak was indignant at the decision to rate ‘El Bulli’ in second place.

Ondo ibili!

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