Ibon Koteron

Who is Ibon Koteron?

Ibon Koteron is a Basque musician renowned as a player of the alboka. His 1996 debut release was a joint record with Kepa Junkera, entitled Leonen Orroak.

He was educated in a Jesuit school in Bilbao where he was known for his expertise playing chess and his anarchist tendencies. He graduated in Basque philology in the University of Deusto.

His career as musician started after he studied alboka and dultzaina in 1987-88 and became a teacher of these instruments himself. In the early 1990s, forming a duo with his brother, he started playing, often for free, as an accompanist to numerous popular acts, notably in support of the Conscientious Objection Movement, which was then waging a popular disobedience campaign against conscription and the army itself.

He has published many articles on the alboka and is developing a multimedia method to learn to play this unique instrument.

In 2004 he released a second record entitled Airea, produced by Kepa Junkera.

He has also collaborated with other musicians, including Gilles Chavenat, Soledonna and Faltriqueira, Heikki Syrjänen, Andrea Pisu and Roston Kuchichian.