The Basque National Orchestra brings to Bilbao the most monumental and ambitious creation by composer and friar Aita Donostia. 🎶✨

As part of its 2026/27 concert season, the ensemble revives a masterpiece that intertwines spirituality, avant-garde flair, and choral tradition.

🎶 Aita Donostia: La vie profonde de Saint François d'Assise

📅 November 7, 2026

🕐 19:30

📍 Palacio Euskalduna, Bilbao

🎟️ On sale September 1

📖 The revival of a monumental score

Illustrations musicales pour La vie profonde de Saint François d’Assise stands as the most ambitious work ever crafted by Aita Donostia in terms of scale and scope. Originally composed as incidental music for a four-hour theatrical play by Henri Ghéon, it premiered in Paris in 1926 to commemorate the seventh centenary of Saint Francis's death, the order to which the Basque friar belonged.

The composition displays an exceptionally rich sonic palette where meditative spirituality meets radiant choral writing, Basque traditional roots, and the innovative language of interwar Parisian modernism.

🎶 Conductor and performers

This major heritage revival is led by conductor Ernest Martínez Izquierdo at the podium of the Basque National Orchestra (Euskadiko Orkestra), joined by tenor Luken Munguira and the choirs Easo Abesbatza and Easo Gazte.

ℹ️ Good to know: Tickets will be on sale starting September 1.

✨ A rare musical occasion to experience an extraordinary pinnacle of Basque symphonic heritage.