LUIGI CATUOGNO was born in the island of Capri in 1961 At the age of 13 I approached to music, to the guitar in particular, under the influence of Creole south-american music, a passion the which has gone hand in hand with me through all my life. I have completed my guitar and musical studies directed by the Italian–Argentinean master Gianni Palazzo. With master Palazzo, besides the classical-academicals repertoire I have deepened the modes and rhythmic of Argentinean folk music, of tango and the study of charrango. Since 1981 and for many years I have been performing at Capri’s night-clubs. This experience has given me the chance of learning the classical Neapolitan’s huge repertoire besides favoring my encounter with the various artists from the Neapolitan music scene, such as Carlo Missaglia, Pino De Majo and most of all master Renato Forlani, the author of some of the most known pages of the classical Neapolitan music (Sarà Chisà, Marechiaro Marechiaro, Scriveme, Voca e Và) who I have had the honor of accompanying on the guitar during his frequent performances at Capri’s taverns. In those years, in order to cultivate my passion for south-American music, I constituted the Flor Azul duo, together with the guitarist-singer Riccardo Pecoraro, with and Argentinean and Chilean folk repertoire and a few numbers from the nueva cancion Chilena (Violeta Parra, Victor Jara, Oracio Salinas). This important experience has allowed me to perform concerts in the national circuit and in solidarity initiatives for south-America. In 1989 I moved to Modena where I have directed for two years the Romolo Ferrari guitar club, personally holding a folk guitar course. During those years I constituted the Terramurata trio, together with the organist Cristina Vetrone and the percussionist Sergio Amabile. The trio has carried out a research over southern Italian folk dance music (Pizzica, tammurriata, tarantella, moresca, montemaranese) and held concerts in the whole Italy between the which I would quote teatro Comunale dell’Aquila ed il Teatro Comunale di Pieve di Cadore and attended to several folk music festivals. In 1991 the encounter with the Argentinean singer/percussionist Maria Fernanda Morosini gives life to Trenzas duo, the which produced several musical projects between the which I would quote the show “Tango bar” a tango cancion anthology from the early Gardel to Astor Piazzolla’s modern sounds. During this show the duo has availed itself several musicians from the Emilia scene such as the accordionist Mauro Medici, the guitarist Juan Carlos flaco Biondini (F. Guccini) the accordionist Delfio Plantemoli and the dancers Patricio Lolli e Veronica Paz. This show has been performed during several festivals and concert halls gathering critic and audience success: Festival Davide di Asti, teatro Borgatti di Cento, Festival del Lido Casalecchio, Teatro dell’Orologio Reggio Emilia just to quote a few During the same year also started the collaboration as guitarist and charraguist with two important chorals from Emilia, Coro T.L. De Victoria from Castelfranco Emilia directed by the Master Giovanni Torre ed il Coro T.A. Bitelli from Cento directed by the master Roberta Gallinari for the set and performance of the opera from Ariel Ramirez Misa Crolla and Navidad Nuestra. Those co-operations gave me the chance of performing in particularly prestigious places such as the UNESCO palace in Paris, the academy of music of Paris, Aquileia Basilica and numberless Italian theaters. From 1994 to 1996 I have been with the Viulan, an historic folk music ensemble form Tosco-Emilia Apennines and this co-operation gave life to the CD Escamadul, published by EMI and introduced by Francesco Guccini. In 1995 I took part to the show “Portafortuna” from the Bolognese musician Guglielmo Pagnozzi, a sort of comparison-clash-fusion between folk music and jazz. In the summer of 1995 with Maria Fernanda Morosini, Juan Carlos Flaco Biondini and the researcher-singer Lele Chiodi I produced the show From Apennines to Andes, a sort of crossover between Argentinean and Emilia folk music. In 1998 starts my co-operation with a few theater companies, a world the which, up to that moment, was completely unknown to me, in particular with Compagnia del Teatro Ridotto from Lavino di Mezzo I the show “Requiem” from the director Renzo Filippetti. During the same year I started working to the arrangement for guitar only of a few numbers from the American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan. From this work has born the concert “Dylan suite” the which I have performed in 1999 and 2000 at the Plankenstein Castle in Austria, headquarter of a prestigious convention devoted to Bob Dylan. For this work I have received positive critics on the official Dylan’s magazine “On the tracks” and from the official biographer Michael Gray who attended the convention. This project has then turned into a theater show thanks to the voice and production of the Bolognese actor Massimiliano Sassi, also performed by the American culture institute of Rome. In 1999 from the encounter with the guitarist-accordionist Delfio Plantemoli the cellist Margherita degli Espositi and the violinist Luigi Bortolani, I gave life to the project of the “Piccola compagnia delle serenate” The quartet’s target is of retrieving and re-reading the repertoire from the early ‘900 barber’s music, the Italian folk’s dance music the which already acknowledges the rhythms and sounds from overseas. This project gave life to the CD “quartet serenade” besides an intense concert activity: Teatro comunale di Ferrara, Festival del Ticino, Festival delle Isole Lago Trasimeno. In 2000 I attended the recital “Al segnun de la magnolia” from the Milan’s Actor Mario Barzaghi, songs and carols from the Milan’s folk tradition. Also from this work a CD was produced. Also in 2000 I attended to the set and mise-en-scene of the show “lettere a Merieme” taken from the novel from the Modena writer Elena Bellei. The show, produced by Cooperativa Integra of Modena has had many repeats in the schools and solidarity organizations sphere. The growing interest for the use of music in the theater has allowed me to attending to the set and mise-en-scene of the show “Kalatrasi” from the Milan’s actor Alberto Nicolino. The show is based on a research effected in the field in Camporeale village between the heirs of the Sicilian tradition of Cunto. The rustproof love for south-American music in particular for tango, made me meet again my old friend Mauro Medici, virtuoso accordionist and refined author. From this encounter took life the concert “Swintango” a true rhythms and sounds explosion from Creole vals to havanera, from rumba to milonga with original musical works and re-readings of masters of the genre first between all Astor Piazzolla. In may 2010 I attended as musician to the show “il teatro delle meraviglie” directed by Vittorio Possenti during the festival internazionale delle abilità differenti. The show has been performed at Carpi’s town theather. With the singer Sara Valentini I produced the recital “ricordando Fabrizio De André” At the moment I am a guitarist in the folk music ensemble “Lepljoma” with a repertoire of narrative songs from Frignano area but also re-readings of south-American and Anglo-american classics