And then she arrived, Shrabani.
Shrabani Aranzabe-Pita is a young entrepreneur born in India but raised in Alkiza, a village in Gipuzkoa (Basque Country). As a child, she dreamed of becoming an orchestra conductor, and today, at 25, she can say she has achieved her goal. She has no lack of motivation; she has perseverance to spare; she has more creativity than you might think; she has initiative. I could go on naming each and every one of the entrepreneurial competences identified by the European framework for entrepreneurial competence (EnreComp). But Shrabani is much more than a set of skills. She is an entrepreneur who, at only 25 years old, has lived a great adventure and a journey that is difficult to forget.
Shrabani has always ‘liked everything,’ from sports to science, helping others, education, culture, research, and inclusion. But above all, what she loved and was passionate about was being an orchestra conductor. Without her knowing it, her journey was going to be full of what she calls ‘failures’, what others would call obstacles, large and medium-sized stones and the occasional pebble, the kind that are not uncommon to find along the way and which, as in Shrabani’s case, have made her stronger and stronger.
When she began her higher education, she decided to study for a double degree in Basque Language and Basque Culture + Modern Languages at the University of Deusto, but she soon realised that this was not what she liked best. That was when she decided to go all out to get into Musikene, the Higher Music Centre of the Basque Country. It wasn’t easy, but she succeeded. The problem was, among other much less important issues, that Shrabani was diagnosed with cancer in her head, which she had to fight (and fight hard). Even so, she wanted to continue her training and commit to education, art and inclusion, although COVID-19 arrived unexpectedly. Not even this pandemic stopped this woman, who, after completing a degree in Music at the International University of La Rioja and a Master’s degree in Research and Innovation in Music Education and Pedagogy at the Autonomous University of Madrid, still had the strength (and plenty of it) to pursue a PhD in neuroscience and education. Because Shrabani was passionate about science and improving education and training.
As she says, this is her CV A, but Shrabani has another CV, CV B.
This CV B is full of many other lessons learned. From a very early age, Shrabani wanted to work in culture and art in a different way from what she had been taught, and she did so. She created a mini-association through a music classroom in her village, Alkiza. She has been dedicated to this since 2016. It was then that she realised that ‘things’ cannot depend on one person alone, that no one is indispensable, and that for ‘something’ important not to disappear, a team of people is needed.
In 2017, Shrabani created the youth singing school with a clear goal: ‘to learn to sing’. Then came the Tolosa Youth Choir (TAG), with a goal that went a little further: ‘to create community’. And so we come to 2021, when she created ‘Naturaren Doinuak’ (Sounds of Nature), with the aim of achieving personal development and helping people to transform themselves. In fact, ‘it currently aims to promote comprehensive development and participation in the field of education, using artistic experiences as a tool, especially with vulnerable groups.’
And so, what began as a project is now a foundation, of which Shrabani is the chief executive officer and artistic director (orchestral and choral), as well as managing the festival that bears the same name, Naturaren Doinuak.
As she says, ‘Thanks to Naturaren Doinuak, we are tackling the challenge of equity and inclusion through education and art.’ It is a joint venture, a social project and a business venture. Among the activities they carry out, the following stand out:
- Training.
- Research.
- Cultural consulting.
- Audiovisual production, software creation.
- Own festival (2021, 2023, 2024 and 2025).
Naturaren Doinuak began in 2021 as a response to COVID-19 in the form of a concert in the forest. From there, it grew into a one-day fair. After contacting ASPANOGI, the third festival brought together associations and schools: it became a three-day event with more than 4,000 visitors and socially excluded people (autistic people) as the protagonists.
Where will you go, Shrabani?
I’m sure the Inspira Gazteak award you recently received from the Kutxa Foundation is just a preview of what lies ahead.
If you want to hear Shrabani, here’s a nice radio interview with her:
https://www.eitb.eus/es/nahieran/radio/radio-euskadi/vivir-para-ver/detalle/9687207/
Shrabani, Let us raise a toast to the Princess of Girona Foundation, which gave us the opportunity to meet!
