Francesco is a multi-instrumentalist teacher and award-winning composer, born in Italy and living in London since 2001. He studied classical and jazz guitar with the renowned Italian guitarist Alberto Pizzigoni, and obtained a ALCM Diploma in Classical Guitar Performance from the London College of Music.
He has been studying and performing as an Oud player for more than 15 years. Francesco has studied Arabic, Iraqi, Ottoman and Persian styles with the most renowned masters of the Oud, such as Ahmed Mukhtar, Ehsan Emam, Nejati Celik, Yurdal Tokcan, Negar Bouban, and completed a Master in Music Performance, awarded with distinction, at SOAS University – London, specialising in Middle-Eastern music and the Iraqi Oud.
Francesco has worked as a music teacher, session musician, sound engineer, composer and producer for more than two decades. He has written and produced music for TV and other media, and achieved a Specialist Certificate in Orchestration for Film and TV at Berklee College of Music. In 2015, he won the International Composition Competition of the Arab Academy of Music with his work “Samai Hijaz”, for Oud and orchestra.
He also owns a MSc in Electronic Engineering & Computer Science from the Politecnico of Milan, achieved with a research project in the use of artificial intelligence for music perception.
Music-related qualifications:
- Certificate in Music Studies – Goldsmiths College
- MMus in Music performance – with distinction (Oud and Middle-Eastern Music) – SOAS University – London
- ALCM Diploma in Classical Guitar Performance – London College of Music
- Grade 8 in Electric Guitar – Registry of Guitar Tutors
- Specialist Certificate in Orchestration for Film and TV – Berklee College of Music
- Certificate in Teaching World Music – SOAS University – London
Classes at Sornai: Oud, Rubab, Guitar