Antonio Breschi
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Antonio Breschi, (born July, 1950) is a composer and pianist who lives in the small village of San Quirico in Collina near Florence, Italy. Although very accomplished in classical music, he is best known as one of the originators of New Age or World Music. He is also internationally-known as the inventor of Celtic piano playing. He divides his time living and recording both in Ireland and Italy. He also calls himself Antoni O'Breskey, to reflect his love for Ireland.
On April 6, 2005, Ireland celebrated his thirty years of work at the National Concert Hall in Dublin, where he was joined by Ronnie Drew, Barney McKenna, and John Sheehan of The Dubliners. He was also joined by flaminco guitarist Juan Martin, accordianist Mairtin O'Connor, and Joe McHugh.
His latest project is called Ethnic Piano, and is a compilation of many of his works and is published on 14 compact discs. The last CD, Song for Carla, is a special edition of original songs written to commemorate the finding of his daughter, Carla, who disappeared as a child in the United States for 17 years. Ronnie Drew and Shirley Grimes are featured performers. Carla was found after an American insurance investigator, Alan McClendon, heard about this story in 1997 while listening to the National Public Radio show, The Thistle and Shamrock, hosted by Fiona Ritchie. He volunteered to search for her, and, after an intensive and complicated search, McClendon traced Carla to a small town in Paraguay near the Iguazu Falls. After establishing contact with her, through cooperative efforts with the U.S. Consulate in Buenos Aires, Argentina, she was soon reunited with her father. The recording is dedicated to both Ritchie and McClendon for their efforts.
