Born in Irún in 1961, José Manuel Tife Iparragirre studied harmony, counterpoint and piano at the San Sebastián Conservatorio Superior de Música, and singing at the Bayonne Ecole Nationale de Musique et Danse, studying the piano further with Ricardo Requejo. In 1985 he entered the Munich Musikhochschule, studying choral conducting with Fritz Schieri and Maximilian Frey. He had his early experience of choral conducting in the Coro Ametsa of Irún with the Coro Enara and the chorus of mixed voices in 1980. In 1989 he was appointed professor of choral work at the Irún Conservatorio de Música and then professor of choral conducting in courses organized by the Choral Federation of the Basque country, carrying out the same duties with other federations such as those of Navarre, Granada and the Spanish Confederation. From 1989 to 1993 he was principal conductor of the Coro Ametsa, with which he made several successful recordings. He became conductor of the Coral Andra Mari in 1994.