The "Daniel Bellón & Diego Maceiras" duo came into being in the spring of 2005 in order to fill a gap in the music scene by bringing together the gaita (bagpipes) and the accordion, two emblematic Galician instruments. And the duo never tires of searching for and striving to perfect an ideal and varied repertoire which covers the wide range of possibilities these instruments offer.
The members of the duo are both top musicians in their own right on the Galician music scene, having made a name for themselves playing with well-known groups as well as solo and concert work.
Their first performances together as a group led on to a much more ambitious project which finally came to a head in the summer of 2005 when the duo was officially launched with an inaugural concert in their hometown of Fene. The group was extremely well received and they were invited to play all around the country. In December that same year, after only two concerts, they went on to perform in Paris.
2006 began with a series of performances including the concert in Móstoles (Madrid) where Dani also gave a course on piping techniques in the local Galician Centre.
To take part in the competition annual held by Radio Folk which brings together folk groups from all over Galicia in the capital, Santiago, the duo prepared a carefully selected repertoire of original compositions as well traditional pieces from around the World. Daniel y Diego won the 7th edition of the Competition held in the city’s main theatre, providing them with the opportunity to record their first album.
In July this year, Daniel Bellón & Diego Maceiras performing with Álex Blanco were one of the eight groups selected out of the 75 competing demos from all over Spain and Portugal to go on to the finals of the 2006 edition of the Runas Section of the prestigious Ortigueira Folk Festival in Galicia. A masterful performance won the duo first place with the most votes and they have been invited back to play on the main stage at the Festival next year.
Following on from Ortigueira, the group set off to play abroad again. Their first guest performance was at the Interceltic Watersports Festival held in Falmouth (Cornwall) before moving on to perform as part of the Galician delegation at the 36th edition of the Interceltic Festival in Lorient (Brittany).
To bring the year to a close, Daniel Bellón & Diego Maceiras played in Geneva (Switzerland) where they performed for representatives from the Centres for Galicians living abroad.
With an experience of over 25 concerts behind them, Daniel Bellón & Diego Maceiras started work on putting their first album together which went on sale in December 2006.
