A Contrabanda was founded 14 years ago in Brussels, by Galicians and Belgians passionated by Galician music. A Contrabanda evolved from a group playing traditional Galician music on gaita and percussion at parades into a more sophisticated band playing for folk balls and in theatres.

The gaitas, playing various traditional rhythms as the muiñeira, jota, rumba and pasodoble, are sometimes exchanged for flutes. The group uses a wide range of traditional percussion instruments, as there are: pandereta (tambourine), bombo and tambor (big and small drum), pandeiro (a square percussion instrument), conchas (scallops), spoons, bones etc. And A

Contrabanda also performs traditional songs from Galicia. These dynamic songs tell about daily live, celebrations, joy and sadness… and are mostly acompanied by pandereta, pandeiro and conchas.

In these 14 years A Contrabanda has played at several festivals and venues in Belgium and France, including Dranouter folkfestival, Rencontres de cornemuses de Frasnes-lez-anvaing en Belgique; et le Karyolefeest de Hondschoote et le festival Euroceltes de Strassbourg en France.

A Contrabanda organizes weekly lessons in Galician percussion, gaita and Irish flute at the Muziekpublique’s World Music & Dance Academy and has become Muziekpublique’s ’house orchestra’ during the monthly folk ball called ’Queimada’.

Contrabanda is:

Gaita (Galician bagpipes): Raphael De Cock, Marc Verfaillie, Françoise Legros, Dorien Dekeyser, Nuno Ferreira Duarte

Percussion Fabienne Demuynck, Herminda Richer Lopez, Karen De Pooter, Annabel Araico, Xavier Sanchez, Marc Vérillotte & Pierre Lehert