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Martin Goikoetxea
Personal details
- Name
- Goikoetxea, Martin
- Complet name and surname
- Goikoetxea Ezkurdia, Martin
- Birth
- 1948 Gorriti + Gorriti < Larraun < Larraunaldea < Iruñeko Merindadea < Navarre < Basque Country
Bertsolarism
- Main specialization
- Bertsolaria
- Jarduerei buruzko azalpenak
- Estatu Batuetako bertsolaria
Biographical details
- Biography
- Born in Gorriti, Navarre, Martin came to the states when he was 16. As a matter of fact, he participated in Navarre’s 1966 Bertsolari (singer of improvised verse) championship. But unfortunately, when the call to came telling him to come to the US it made it impossible for him to take part in the semifinals in Iruña-Pamplona.
He started composing bertsoak (improvised verses) at a young age. His first performances were in Gorriti, his hometown, with Kaxiano Ibarguren, when he was 12. Later, as a teenager he performed with Lazkao-Txiki, Agirre and the best bertsolaris of that time in Gorriti, Leitza, Baraibar, Huitzi and surrounding towns.
Moving to the US forced him to stop the art of bertsos until 1991 when he participated in the Bertsolari and Basque Song Festival in Gardnerville, Nevada. He has performed many times since then in San Francisco, Elko, Chino, Boise, Rock Springs, Buffalo, Los Banos, Bakersfield and Reno among others. During a performance benefitting Kilometroak, he participated with Bertsolaris in the Basque Country through videoconferencing in the first intercontinental simultaneous bertso session. Today he serves as NABO’s Basque language and Bertso chair.