Galician piper Manuel Seoane Sánchez was crowned winner of the 39th MacCrimmon Bagpipe Trophy on Saturday, 1 August. One of the Lorient Interceltic Festival’s longest-running and most prestigious instrumental competitions, the event once again brought together eight outstanding performers from the new generation of Asturian and Galician pipers, with four representatives from each territory.
Seoane prevailed in a high-level edition in which the Galician delegation also included Héctor Lomba Villa, Ismael García del Río and Antón Franco. Asturies was represented by Nel Cortizo Verdejo, Pelayo Cordero Vega, Diego Lobo Tuñón and Pelayo Suárez Rodríguez.
The MacCrimmon presents competitors with a challenge that goes far beyond performing music from their own tradition. Each participant must play pieces belonging to the three musical cultures represented on the jury: Brittany, Asturies and Galicia. The competition therefore assesses not only technical skill, but also versatility, expressiveness and the ability to understand the distinctive forms taken by the bagpipe in the different territories of the Atlantic seaboard.
This demanding format makes the competition an exceptional showcase for the similarities and differences between repertoires that share common roots but have developed their own performance styles, ornamentation and sounds. The pipers must demonstrate a thorough knowledge of their instrument and an ability to adapt to different musical languages without sacrificing precision or individuality.
Manuel Seoane Sánchez’s victory returns the trophy to Galicia in a competition historically dominated by Asturian performers. Representatives of Asturies have won 25 of the 39 editions held to date, reflecting the strength of the Asturian piping tradition within the contest.
The MacCrimmon’s roll of honour also includes two victories by women. The first came in 2010, when Asturian piper Andrea Joglar won the competition and received a medal of honour in recognition of her achievement. Nine years later, María López became the first Galician woman to claim the trophy and, at just 14 years old, the youngest competitor ever to win it. Until then, the record had belonged to Diego Pangua, who took the title in 2000 at the age of 16.
The festival’s bagpipe programme will continue on Wednesday, 5 August, with a masterclass led by Diego Lobo Tuñón. The Asturian musician, director of Banda de Gaites El Gumial in Morea and Banda de Gaites Saxum in Xixón, knows the demands of the competition well, having won the MacCrimmon Trophy in 2024.
His session will introduce audiences and fellow performers to different technical and expressive aspects of the instrument, while extending the exchange between the piping traditions of Brittany, Asturies and Galicia. Two years after Diego Lobo Tuñón’s Asturian victory, Manuel Seoane Sánchez now adds his name to a roll of honour that continues to demonstrate the vitality of traditional Atlantic music.
