Pedro Iturralde, born 1929, is a Spanish saxophonist, saxophone

Saxophone

The saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...

 teacher and composer.

He began his musical studies with his father and performed in his first professional engagements on saxophone at age eleven. He graduated from the Royal Conservatory of Music

Royal Conservatory of Music

The Royal Conservatory of Music is a music school and performance venue in Toronto, Canada. Other uses of the term include:*The Madrid Royal Conservatory, Spain*The Royal Academy of Music, London, United Kingdom...

 in Madrid, where he studied clarinet, piano, and harmony

Harmony

In music, harmony is the use of simultaneous pitches , or chords. The study of harmony involves chords and their construction and chord progressions and the principles of connection that govern them. Harmony is often said to refer to the "vertical" aspect of music, as distinguished from melodic...

.

He went on to lead his own jazz quartet at the W. Jazz Club in Madrid

Madrid

Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...

, experimenting with the combined use of flamenco

Flamenco

Flamenco is a genre of music and dance which has its foundation in Andalusian music and dance and in whose evolution Andalusian Gypsies played an important part....

 and jazz

Jazz

Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...

, and making recordings for the Blue Note

Blue Note Records

Blue Note Records is a jazz record label, established in 1939 by Alfred Lion and Max Margulis. Francis Wolff became involved shortly afterwards. It derives its name from the characteristic "blue notes" of jazz and the blues. At the end of the 1950s, and in the early 1960s, Blue Note headquarters...

 label. In 1972 he undertook further study in harmony and arranging at the Berklee College of Music

Berklee College of Music

Berklee College of Music, located in Boston, Massachusetts, is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known primarily as a school for jazz, rock and popular music, it also offers college-level courses in a wide range of contemporary and historic styles, including hip...

 in Boston. He taught saxophone at the Madrid Conservatory from 1978 until his retirement in 1994.

He appeared in Spain and abroad as a soloist with the Spanish National Orchestra under the baton of Frühbeck de Burgos

Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos

Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos is a Spanish conductor and composer.Frühbeck studied violin, piano, and composition at the conservatories of Bilbao and Madrid...

, Celibidache, Markevitch, and others.

When he was 20 years old he composed Czárdás for saxophone. He dedicated the present version of the work, orchestrated by his brother Javier, to a friend, saxophonist Theodore Kerkezos

Theodore Kerkezos

Theodore Kerkezos is a Greek classical saxophonist.Theodore Kerkezos graduated with honors from the class of B. Farantatos at the Athens Conservatory and continued his musical training in Bordeaux, France with the famous saxophonist Jean-Marie Londeix...

.

He made recordings with the renowned flamenco guitarists Paco de Lucia (Hiaspavox, 1968), Paco de Algeciras and Pepe de Antequerra (Columbia YS-2072-H, 1967) and Paco Cepero (CBS, 1975)