The band

Apart from his virtuosity, one of his most important contributions to the band is the way he understands language. In his own words, he enjoys “language as a game to subvert reality. It is a way of turning things around”. Therefore, everything in his compositions, from the title to the last score is relevant.

The first time Anxo Pintos sat in front of an organ he was six years old and could not reach the pedals. His father was involved in traditional music and dance and his mother was a lyric singer. Both of them made sure that their children developed some love for the world of sound.

After some brief stays in several music schools and the conservatory of Vigo he finally landed at Antón Corral's workshop of traditional instruments at the Universidade Popular in Vigo. This workshop became the catalyst and link between musicians and artisans of Europe. There they recorded an album with teaching purposes: Instrumentos Tradicionais Galegos. This was a key moment in Anxo Pintos' career, as he decided to work in the field of folk and decided to found the band Matto Congrio with several colleagues from the workshop. Matto Congrio recorded just one album in 1993.

Today he combines his participation in Berrogüetto with Lizgairo, a project together with Rodrigo Romaní and José Liz Cea. Together they recorded Diacronías (2008).

He is the composer of numerous instrumental pieces, some of which are compulsory performances in several relevant competitions and contests for solo bagpipers. Besides, some international bands as important as Broderick, The Relick or harp player Rachel Hair played versions of some of his themes.

He has also featured in the performances of other bands such as The Chieftains, Milladoiro, Los Piratas, Susana Seivane and Mercedes Peón.

At the same time, he also undertakes a remarkable task as teacher at the E-Trad, Municipal Folk and Traditional Music School of Vigo. He has been hurdy-gurdy lecturer for three years. He has work hard to bring this instrument back to the Galician music scene at a time when it had almost been abandoned, by designing a pioneering and specific teaching methodology.

In the framework of E-Trad he has taken part in the inception of the first Galician folk orchestra, Son de Seu, a musical, stage and teaching experience that has been taking place since 2001. At the beginning he took part as one of the teachers coordinating the work, but the project grew with the creation of the trust Fundación Son de Seu, of which he is the president. They recently received aid from the Cultural Programme of the European Union to set up a European Orchestra network.