Seattle-based, Italian born Guitar Virtuoso Andre Feriante updates his mastery of flamenco, classical and Brazilian traditions with original compositions, inventive arrangements and poetry.

Over 20 years of performing and recording, award-winning, virtuoso guitarist Andre Feriante has left his musical mark on the classical, world music, and fusion scenes. His classical pedigree is impeccable, having trained with Colombian concert guitarist Henry Rivas, renowned New York guitarist Leon Atkinson, and Jose Tomas, assistant to the legendary Andres Segovia, but his creative performance style, which draws on his gift for improvisation and a broad understanding of many musical and cultural traditions, has made a substantial impact on audiences of all kinds.

A cross-over artist in the vein of YoYo Ma or Sting, his performance program represents a bold but fluid musical fusion, featuring music from Bach to Leonard Cohen, flamenco improvisation to jazz standards, and even poetry by Federico Garcia Lorca, Rumi, and Feriante himself. Internationally acclaimed, he's performed at an Andres Segovia Master Class in Madrid, at Javeriana University in Bogota, Colombia, and for the Jose Carreras Leukemia Foundation at Carnegie Hall in New York City.

Now based in Seattle, he has established himself as a local favorite. Seattleites look forward to his much anticipated annual performance at Benaroya Hall, and Feriante has played a wide variety of local venues including The King Cat Theatre (where he opened for Olita Adams and David Benoit), The Frye Art Museum, The Paramount Theater, and the Key Arena, where he performed the National Anthem for the Seattle Sonics. Festival appearances include the Maui Music Festival, the Seattle Folklife Festival, Seattle Hempfest and Bumbershoot.

He makes regular appearances on Seattle radio and television and was featured on the Classical King FM Compilation Natural Symphony CD, as well as on the Tigerbreath label with Ottmar Liebert, Craig Chaquico, and others. He has released seven albums that have consistently charted within the top 10, and his latest, "Bohemian Boulevard", debuted at No. 1 on the world and ambient radio charts. It remained in the top 20 for 5 months and then went on to win "Best World Album" in the New Age Reporter's 2006 Lifestyle Awards.

A seasoned, expressive, performer whose style is as elegant as it is conversational, Feriante's innovative and effortless style appeals to anyone with a love and passion for music. He has dedicated his life to his art, and his ability to communicate through sound never fails to lead his audience on an emotional journey that is as deeply personal as it is universal.

His music bears the mark of an artist with a commitment to exploring the limitless potential of passionate, creative expression. At the heart of that expression is honesty, a simple acceptance of the complexity of living, and the drive to communicate beyond the boundaries of language. Within the notes and chords that he coaxes from his guitar strings, pleasure beds down with pain, joy with sorrow, solace with struggle. With more than a decade of chart-topping albums under his belt, the humble beauty of his work is a testament to both the sophistication of his talent and the scope of his vision. He is truly the poet of the guitar.

As with any form of sincere communication, Feriante's work has been met with an overwhelmingly positive response. Over the past decade, he has recorded seven albums and has performed extensively throughout the U.S. He's a regional favorite, with an annual show at Seattle's Benaroya Hall that dazzles local audiences. His recordings have consistently charted in the top 10. His seventh album, "Bohemian Boulevard", debuted at No. 1 on the World and Ambient radio charts last August and remained in the top 20 for five months. It won Best World Album in the New Age Reporter's 2006 Lifestyle Awards.

A gracefully seasoned performer, Feriante has dedicated his life to music, and his innovative, effortless style appeals to music lovers of all kinds. For Feriante, making art is about the universal search for healing and for meaning. It's no longer just about the guitar, or about any instrument, for that matter. Rather, it's about tapping into something less tangible and more unifying those transcendent, ethereal flashes of human communication that take place when we stop simply listening and give ourselves over completely to the experience of a single, wonderful moment.