caption years_active article_title background image origin name occupation
antonio contemporary acoustic course at kings place forcione during the igf london guitar summit 2015 ? - present antonio forcione
 non_vocal_instrumentalist antonio forcione2.jpg italy antonio forcione guitarist , composer
antonio forcione

antonio forcione is an italian-born guitarist-composer .
winner of numerous awards , he has released 18 albums of largely original material .
he tours internationally in festivals and for charity performances and masterclass workshops .
forcione was born in a village on the adriatic shore of molise in southern italy .
he first drew public attention at 13 when he toured italy with his own band as a guitarist , mandolinist and drummer .
a few years later he obtained a diploma in art and sculpture from the art institute in ancona where he also studied percussion .
for a further two years he studied harmony and mime in rome , before moving to london in 1983 .
unable to speak english , he initially made ends meet by busking in the streets of london 's covent garden .
within 2 months he had won an award which led to a bbc television appearance before being whisked off to open for barclay james harvest on a major european tour , culminating in a concert at wembley arena .
since then he has collaborated with many artists , touring the world and performing both solo and with other artists in duo , trio or quartet .
he has performed , double-billed/supported and recorded with artists such as bobby mcferrin , phil collins , jools holland , zucchero , pino daniele , charlie haden , john mclaughlin , trilok gurtu , steps ahead , leo kotke , bireli lagrene , eduardo niebla amongst others .
other groups have included the antonio forcione quartet , and duos with brazilian percussionist adriano adewale .
his latest group is aka , a trio with seiku keita and adriano adewale .
antonio 's constant search for outlets to his creativity led him to collaborate and tour with various comedians such as boothby graffoe , django edwards , stephen frost , tanderika and ursus & nadeschkin .
between 1992 and 1996 he performed with -lrb- and was musical director for -rrb- the award-winning musical flamencomedy group olé .
forcione is a prolific composer , and most of the pieces performed are his own .
his compositions are a tapestry of influences from african and the latin countries , interwoven with classical , flamenco and indian rhythms .
the result is a unique and personal sound , meticulously wrought .
his live performances are known for their dynamic and original delivery , and for the charisma of the man himself .
his awards include best spirit of the fringe award at the edinburgh festival with a resulting tour of australia , doing both straight music and music-comedy .
other awards include the award for excellence in adelaide , the premio enriquez in italy for best musician of the year , and the premio internazionale di cultura re manfredi for his unique and innovative approach to music .
reviews of his albums have included his being dubbed `` 21st century ` jimi hendrix ' of acoustic guitar '' forcione currently lives in london .
