Iñaki Askunze
Iñaki Askunze is a saxophonist, composer, arranger and conductor born in San Sebastian, Spain
• Completed Advanced Saxophone studies at the San Sebastián Conservatory with Honors.
• Appointed as a saxophone professor at the Joaquín Maya Municipal Conservatory in Pamplona.
• Studied for three years at the Berklee College of Music in Boston. Received instruction from Joe Viola and Herb Pomeroy and performed in their Big band. Graduated "Magna Cum Laude" in Performance and Jazz Composition.
• Directed the "Iruña Big Band" for 10 years.
• Moved to Barcelona where he worked with various ensembles and taught harmony and arrangements at the "Taller de Musics" for three years.
• Served as the director of the "Pirineos Jazz Orquesta" for 10 years, recording two CDs, one of them featuring collaboration with trumpeter Randy Brecker, and collaborating on a project with jazz flamenco pianist Chano Domínguez.
• Currently a professor specializing in Jazz harmony, arrangements, composition, and Big band at the Superior Conservatory of Music of the Basque Country (Musikene) and at the Superior Conservatory of Music of Navarra, with whom he has recorded with Jorge Pardo, Perico Sambeat, etc.
• Performed at Jazz Festivals in Madrid, Barcelona, San Sebastián, Vitoria (with Manhattan Transfer and the RTVE Orchestra), etc. Invited to conduct his arrangements and compositions for Big Band by the Royal Academy of Music in Aarhus (Denmark), the Norwegian Academy of Music in Oslo (Norway), the Maastricht Academy of Music in Maastricht (Netherlands), the Jazz Institute University of Music and Performing Arts in Graz (Austria), the Prince Claus Conservatoire in Groningen (Netherlands), the Metropolia University in Helsinki (Finland), the Saint Louis College of Music in Rome (Italy), the Escola Superior de Música de Lisboa (Portugal), the Royal Conservatoire in The Hague (Netherlands), the Bob Sands Big Band, the Musikene Big Band, the Jaén Jazzy Big Band, etc.
• Awarded 2nd prize in the "Big Band Composition and Arrangement Competition" organized by the Ool-Ya-Koo Cultural Association and the SGAE Foundation in Granada in 2014, 2016, and 2018. In 2019, conducted the Big Band of the Competition, and in 2020, served as a Jury member. He has also been a Jury member of the "7 Virtual Jazz Competition" in 2018 and 2019.