Projects & stories
Ozeano Bat: An Ocean of Music Between the Basque Country and Cuba
A chamber music project connecting two cultures through the flute and harp.
This November, we will record Ozeano Bat, an artistic and recording project by Earth&Rose Duo that brings together Basque and Cuban music through a dialogue between the flute and harp.
For us — Alberto Rosas, a Cuban-Spanish flautist based in Regensburg, Germany, and Francesca Romana Di Nicola, an Italian harpist living in San Sebastián — this project represents much more than a new album. It is a journey of discovery through the musical connections that have linked both sides of the Atlantic for centuries.
An ocean connecting cultures
While preparing Ozeano Bat, we have discovered fascinating stories about the influence of Basque musicians and composers on Cuban musical life, as well as the remarkable international impact of Cuban music.
One example is Pedro Sanjuán Nortes, a Basque composer and conductor born in San Sebastián, who settled in Havana in the 1920s and helped establish the city's Philharmonic Orchestra.
His story reminds us that music has always travelled with people, evolving along the way and enriching the cultures it encounters.
From Havana to the opera Carmen
Did you know that one of the most famous melodies in opera has a direct connection to a Basque composer and the Cuban habanera?
Sebastián de Iradier composed La Paloma, one of the world's best-known habaneras. He also wrote El arreglito, whose melody Georges Bizet used as the starting point for the celebrated habanera in his opera Carmen.
A musical genre born in Cuba, a Basque composer and one of the most famous French operas in history: an extraordinary example of how music transcends borders.
A new chamber music adventure
With Ozeano Bat, we explore these connections through repertoire for flute and harp, featuring works associated with composers such as Iradier, Maurice Ravel, Pedro Sanjuán, Aita Donostia and Emiliana de Zubeldia.
We are especially excited about the forthcoming recording and look forward to sharing the result of this encounter between musical traditions.
Ozeano Bat means “One Ocean” in Basque. And for us, that ocean does not separate two cultures — it connects them.
The story continues…
In our next article, we will explore the origins of the Cuban habanera and discover how this musical genre found its way onto European concert and opera stages.