Born in Palermo (Sicily), where you can still hear the Arab influence in the local music, his first real involvement in music began in 1976, showing from the very start an interest in archaic wind instruments from all over the world. Founder of the band Agricantus with which he has an intense record and concert activity (10 albums, 4 soundtracks, various compilations, hundred of concerts). He has completed research into ethnomusicology, both with the Sicilian Ethnophonic Archive, the Folkstudio of Palermo, the Institute for Folk Traditions of the University of Palermo, and the Museum of Folk Traditions of Nuoro. In order to deepen his musical research he has visited many regions of the world, Africa, Middle East, Asia Minor and Brasil meeting many musicians, history and atmospheres, making important musical experiences and elaborating musical concepts and compositions.
Besides Agricantus productions, he also composes for soundtracks, theatre and dance shows, surrounding sonorizations, developing the multimedia side of his artistic works. As coauthor and interpreter he has participated in various soundtrack and in record productions in the fields of traditional, world and trance music working with artists such as Luis Bacalov, Pivio e Aldo De Scalzi, Trancendental, Andrea Guerra, Enzo Avitabile, Brothers, Giovanni Lo Cascio.
His research work continuous during the years with the participation to ON Nomadic Observatory of Rome with which he realizes territorial artistic events and multimedia installations in Sicily and the Mediterranean.
In 2007 he has participated to the Juakali Drummers Project conceived by Giovanni Lo Cascio within the AMREF rehabilitation program “Children in need” in Nairobi, Kenya. Juakali Drummers is a Dulcimer Fondation pour la Musique and AMREF permanent project to rescue children from the streets through music education.
He performes as soloist in various italian and international Festivals two different musical projects with his winds instruments, the first totally acoustic and the other which digs deep into the world of wind instruments and of technology. In 2006 he has been invited in Pakistan, in quality of representative for Italy, to the World Performing Arts Festival of Lahore.
With Agricantus he has realized tours in Europe, Brasil, Israel, Syria, Hong Kong, participating to International Festivals and won the prestigious Targa Tenco 1996 (for the Best World Music Album), PIM – Italian Music Award 1997 (for the best frontier music album), the Augusto Daolio Prize (for the social engagement).
He is author and artistic director of the Festival Paesaggi di Suoni (www.paesaggidisuoni.it). In 2008, with Francesco Calabria, has founded in Palermo FolkaLab a permanent musical and multidisciplinary workshop which has linked 200 artists (www.folkalab.com).