Antonio Forcione

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Antonio Forcione is an Italian guitarist, composer and performer. He possesse a virtuso technique which is displayed on stage with accomplished showmanship, often including comic elements. Forcione started recording in 1983 and appears on dozens of albums.

Antonio Forcione was born in a village on the Adriatic shore of Molise. He drew first 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 started studying percussion. For two more years he studied harmony and mime in Rome, before moving to London in 1983.

Unable to speak English, he initially resorted to 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.

Forcione toured and performed with comedians Boothby Graffoe, Django Edwards, Stephen Frost, Tanderika and Ursus & Nadeschkin. Between 1992 and 1996 he performed with (and was musical director for) the musical group Olé. In 2001 he won the ‘Best Spirit of the Fringe Award’ at the Edinburgh Festival with a resulting tour of Australia, doing both straight music and music-comedy.

He also regularly tours the world with a sophisticated 4 piece ensemble that includes a cello, flute, double bass and percussion.

It has been said that Antonio Forcione is "probably the best acoustic guitar player in the world"^{[citation needed]}. His technique is similar to that of Tommy Emmanuel, as is his musical eloquence, though Forcione tends towards more jazz (especially Spanish Gypsy style) and South American influenced styles of playing.

Forcione has performed and recorded with such artist as Eduardo Niebla,Sabina Sciubba,Neil Stacey, Charlie Haden, Trilok Gurtu, Bireli Lagrene Jason Rebello, Ronu Majumdar, Barney Kessel and others