Born in Toulouse in 1969, Michel Fenasse-Amat studied piano and singing in his hometown.

Baritone, graduate of the Conservatoire Régional de Musique de Bordeaux, he was awarded the 3rd european medal for lyrical singing (jury chaired by the mezzo-soprano Viorica Cortez), he then perfected his skills at the Francisco Viñas Foundation – Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona. In 2000 he won the 3rd grand prize for musical comedy at the SanRemo Lyrical Festival, broadcasted on Télé Monte-Carlo.

Born in Budapest, Pierre Csillag studied piano, composition and conducting at the Béla Bartók Conservatory in Budapest and then at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Paris. Parallel to music, he studied engineering and obtained a doctorate from the ENSEEIHT in Toulouse. He then worked as a teacher-researcher in three of Toulouse’s prestigious universities until his retirement.

Throughout his career as a teacher and researcher, Pierre Csillag kept a high-level musical activity. He was notably : musical director of the University of Toulouse Orchestra for 22 years, pianist in the Orchestre National du Capitole for about forty concerts, pianist accompanist notably in France and Hungary.

As a composer, he has written various pieces for voice, choir, string orchestra, chamber groups … A number of his pieces were edited in Hungary and the United States. He wrote the arrangements and orchestrations of the opera Orfeo (a creation conceived by Michel Fenasse-Amat on music by Vivaldi and other 18th century composers).

A federation of choristers from the Basque and Bearn Country came together to help bring Aria Pirinèus to life.

Lagunak Abesbatza was created specifically for Aria Pirenèus’ tour in the Basque Country and the Château de Pau in august 2018. After having participated, alongside choirs from Spain and the Occitan Region,  in concerts at the Castillo de Loarre (Aragon, Spain) and at the Château Comtal of the City of Carcassonne, Lagunak Abesbatza became the main choir for concerts and artistic residencies based in the basque province of Basse Navarre (Irissarry and Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port).

Originally from Ascain in the Basque Country, where he lives and works as a plumber, Ramuntxo Luberriaga has a natural tenor voice.

As a young man with a passion for singing (shared with that of rugby), he practises choral singing, notably in the Larrun Kanta choir of Ascain.

Since 2018 he has been a soloist in the Aria Pirenèus concerts.

Born in Bayonne, François-Xavier « Xabi » Cuende works mainly in the field of water and aquatic environment management. He is involved in the promotion of the heritage and culture (Basque Studies Society ; Bayonne Science, Letters and Arts Society ; Arnaga Festival) and sport (Aviron Bayonnais) of the Basque Country.

Xabi was trained in music at the Estudiantina Donibandarrak in Saint-Jean-de-Luz, then in the vocal ensemble of the Bayonne Conservatory where he got firsthand experience in working with music from Gregorian to contemporary times as well as training in choral conducting.

In 2018, he embarks on the tour of Aria Pirenèus in the Basque Country and Béarn, where Michel Fenasse-Amat entrusts him with the musical direction of the concerts.

Michel Fenasse-Amat, piano

Laura Bide, accordeon

Ekain Cachenaut, txistu

The Estudiantina de Ciboure – Mandolins, mandolas and guitars

The choir of Alma Cantoa (singers from the Region of Occitania and Spain)
The vocal ensemble Le Diapason Villefranchois (Villefranche-de-Lauragais)

Since the recording of the album, 3 plectrum ensembles have been part of the orchestral ensemble : a group from the Estudiantina de Saint-Girons (Ariège, France), the Estudiantina d’Anglet (French Basque country), and the Ensemble RondArte de Zaragoza (Aragon, Spain).

The men’s choir Asphodèle (Soual, Tarn)
The vocal ensemble Le Diapason Villefranchois (Villefranche-de-Lauragais)
Choir Ultreia (Lézignan-Corbières)
Les Chœurs de Carcassonne