AINHOA URKIJO, a native of Bilbao, Spain, received her degree in Piano Performance from the Arriaga Superior Conservatory of Music of the same city. Later she obtained a Masters Degree in Accompanying and Coaching at the Westminster Choir College in Princeton, NJ under the preceptorship of Dalton Baldwin.

She has worked privately with leaders in the Opera and Art Song including, Paul von Schillhawsky in Paris, Wolfram Rieger in Barcelona, Charles Spencer in Viena, Harmut Holl and Mitsuko Shirai at the Mozarteum in Salzburg, Illiana Cotrubas in Barcelona and Alejandro Zabala in Bilbao.

Her work experience includes ten years as a Piano teacher and Accompanist at the Bilbao Superior Conservatory of Music. Accompanist at Westminster Choir College in Princeton, NJ, the Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia, PA, and Minneapolis, MN. Vocal Coach at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, PA, and the Center of Superior Musical Studies of the Basque Country MUSIKENE in San Sebastian, Spain.
She was the Musical Director and rehearsal pianist during the 2002-03 season of the Opera North Carolina and the rehearsal pianist at the Philadelphia Opera under the baton of Maurizio Barbacini.
In addition, she has accompanied the voice lessons of distinguished singers such as Tom Krause, Benita Valente, Zehava Gal and Christopher Robertson.

She has accompanied singers such as Ainhoa Arteta, Christopher Robertson, Maria Luisa Tomes, Carlos Serrano, Paul Adkins, Tamara Mathews and Carla Hanson. She has performed in concert halls throughout Europe and the USA.

In 2007 Mrs. Urkijo was a visiting Vocal Coach at Luther College in Decorah, IA. Currently she is pursuing a Doctorate of Musical Arts (DMA) in Collaborative Piano at the University of Minnesota under the guidance of Timothy Lovelace and Noriko Kawai. In addition, she is a faculty member of the Music Department at the Rochester Community and Technical College (RCTC) in Rochester, MN.