Accordionist Lore Amenabar Larrañaga is a London-based performer whose work spans folk and classical traditions, engaging with tonal, post-tonal, and microtonal music. She is particularly known for her work on the Quarter-Tone Accordion, a self-designed instrument at the centre of her artistic and research practice, and for her commitment to collaboration as a primary mode of music-making.

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Both a Bachelor’s and a Master’s degree, each awarded with first-class honours at the Sibelius Academy, University of the Arts Helsinki, were shaped by a sustained engagement with the ‘mother tongue’ of the classical accordion, that is, works originally written for the instrument, alongside a deep interest in transcription, particularly from the harpsichord and organ repertoire. Studies there were with Prof Matti Rantanen, Dr Mika Väyrynen, and Dr Veli Kujala.

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A PhD completed in 2023 at the Royal Academy of Music in London, supported by la Caixa Foundation, investigated the artistic identity of the Quarter-Tone Accordion through ten collaborative commissions. Rather than studying collaboration as a subject, it was used as a method: each new work became both an artistic outcome and a means of understanding what the instrument is, and what it can be.

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Since a first premiere in 2017, Matti Murto’s Finnish Suite, around fifty world premieres have followed, with artists including Claudia Molitor, Michael Finnissy, Mioko Yokoyama, Christopher Fox, Electra Perivolaris, Howard Skempton, Emily Koh, James Batty, Zhenyan Li, Huihui Cheng, Dominic Flynn, Océane Deweirder, Ben Lunn, Loré Lixemberg, Donald Bousted, Nicola Visalli, and Joe Gusmano. Many of these works were written specifically for the Quarter-Tone Accordion.

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As a member of Vortex Ensemble, a Europe-wide microtonal ensemble, this commitment to collaboration extends to working directly alongside composers who write in alternative tuning systems.

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The doctoral research found its recorded form in ISPILU (Basque for mirror), a debut solo album released in 2023 featuring eight works for Quarter-Tone Accordion.

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A prize-winner of the Arrasate-Hiria International Accordion Competition and Jeunesses Musicales Spain, recent performances have taken place across Spain, France, Germany, Italy, the UK, Ireland, Switzerland, Poland, Finland, and the USA. Recent festival appearances include the Deal Music and Arts Festival (UK), the London Händel Festival (UK), the Festival dei Due Mondi di Spoleto (Italy), Welcome In – A Musical Path at the Akademie der Künste, Berlin (Germany), and Tectonics 2026 (UK), where the world premiere of Minding the Hive by Christopehr Fox, a Quarter-Tone Accordion concerto, was given with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra conducted by Ilan Volkov.

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Alongside performing, teaching and research remain central: as Academic Music Teacher at the Yehudi Menuhin School, the work covers music theory, history, analysis, aural skills, and research skills, alongside masterclasses, concert-lectures, conference papers, and regular adjudication at international competitions.

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Through her dual focus on performance and research, Lore Amenabar Larrañaga has established a distinctive artistic voice, positioning the accordion, and particularly the Quarter-Tone Accordion, as an instrument for contemporary musical thought, collaboration, and innovation.