The mezzo-soprano Itxaro Mentxaka was born in Lekeitio in the Basque Country. Her career began with the Itxas-Soinua Choir, where she became a soloist, moving afterwards to the Bordeaux Conservatoire, where she studied with Monique Florence. She later studied also with Carmen Martínez Luna in Valencia. She has won several prizes and has worked with Spanish and foreign orchestras. She participates currently in the opera seasons of Barcelona and Madrid, and appears often in Seville, Bilbao, La Coruña, Valencia, Santiago de Compostela and at the International Festivals of Peralada, Granada and San Sebastian. Engagements include La Generala at the Teatro de la Zarzuela, Madrid, and in Oviedo and Paris, La Cenerentola in Jerez, Lulu at the Teatro Real in Madrid, Les mamelles de Tirésias in Bilbao and at the Gran Teatre del Liceu, Barcelona, where she also sang Carmen.