When a violinist proud of her Basque roots decides to bring musical creation made in Euskal Herria to life, the result is an album project like no other!

When Marina was a child, it wasn't classical music we listened to at home, but a lot of rock, a lot of traditional music and, almost every day, world music. It was she who introduced classical music, along with violin concertos, to the ears of the family clan... Born into a family well known on the Basque music scene - her father was drummer Jean-Marc Beheretche, a member of famous local folk groups such as Sustraia and Gazteok - Marina Beheretche began her life as a professional violinist with the Toulouse Chamber Orchestra. 

Euskal kulturaren lekuko: Marina Beheretxe from Euskal kultura - Culture basque on Vimeo.

Eight years later, in 2015, she returned to her roots: she was appointed concertmaster of the Orchestre Symphonique du Pays Basque and teaches her instrument at the Conservatoire Maurice-Ravel in Bayonne, the same place where she learned music, before completing her training on the Spanish side at the Escuela Superior de Música de San Sebastian. At the Bayonne Conservatory, students can learn traditional dances and take theater classes in Basque. Marina speaks Basque in class with her Basque-speaking students. 

Since Marina returned to the Basque Country, she has been busy with a host of projects: she is a member of the Ezekiel collective, with whom she normally gives numerous concerts. The 35-year-old violinist also travels the length and breadth of her region, playing in Basque village squares with her partner in crime, accordionist Philippe de Escurra: in their small open-air concerts, the two friends give pride of place to pieces by Basque composers such as Jesús Guridi Bidaola, and to the festive, danceable music so popular with the Basques. When she concocts a concert program, Marina doesn't hesitate to mix styles - classical music rubs shoulders with traditional music, a heritage better known to Basque ears. In 2016, the violinist recorded an astonishing debut album with the Arranoa Quartet: "4 Sasuak", in which Vivaldi's celebrated Four Seasons are revisited in Basque style with Mixel Etxekopar's txirula (small flute), and mingle with music by American composer Marc Mellits. A musical UFO...

In 2020, deprived of concerts and the sharing she loves so much because of the pandemic, the violinist came up with the idea of a new record that sings loud and clear of the melting pot of music and brings together several artists from the French-speaking Basque Country around Basque musical creation. Violins, viola, cello, double bass, piano and traditional singers perform new pieces composed by five artists: Nathalie Biarnès, Peio Cabalette, Joël Merah, Frédéric Gaillardet and Mixel Etxekopar. The project is called "Aztarnak", which means "traces" in Basque, and to finance the recording, Marina launched a fundraising campaign on the Kisskisbankbank participative financing platform in early 2021. 

The project won over Internet users, with over 15,000 euros raised out of the 10,000 expected. Basque visual artist Arantxa Lannes will produce the booklet and illustrations for the record sleeve. Recording will take place at the end of October, and the album and booklet will be released in early December 2021.  

Suzanne Gervais