Al Conti (born 9 March 1968) is a

Grammy The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pre ...

-nominated

New Age New Age is a range of spiritual or religious practices and beliefs which rapidly grew in Western society during the early 1970s. Its highly eclectic and unsystematic structure makes a precise definition difficult. Although many scholars conside ...

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

arranger In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orches ...

, producer, and

multi-instrumentalist A multi-instrumentalist is a musician who plays two or more musical instruments at a professional level of proficiency. Also known as doubling, the practice allows greater ensemble flexibility and more efficient employment of musicians, where ...

Biography

Al Conti is Argentinian-born and currently resides in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. Since 2006, Conti has led an impressive music career achieving various mentions, awards and a Grammy nomination. ''Mystic'' (2016), his latest album, includes collaborations from

Ricky Kej Ricky Kej (born 5 August 1981 - Dhaka, Bangladesh) is a multi- Grammy Award-winning Indian music composer and environmentalist. He has performed at venues in over 30 countries including at the United Nations headquarters in New York and Geneva ...

, Pamela Copus (2002), Jeff Pearce and

Charlee Brooks Charlee Brooks (born July 24, 1988) is an American vocalist, composer, and audio engineer. Born and raised in New Brighton, Pennsylvania, she began her first works in production as a second engineer on the 2010 World of Warcraft: Cataclysm expans ...

. Other notable album credits include violins from award winner

Manoj George Manoj George is an Indian violinist and a music composer. He performed as the conductor, string arranger, solo violinist and choral arranger of 2 albums : ''Winds of Samsara'', which won the Grammy Award for the Best New Age Album in 2015 an ...

and engineers Randy Copus (2002), Jill Tengan (

Britney Spears Britney Jean Spears (born December 2, 1981) is an American singer. Often referred to as the " Princess of Pop", she is credited with influencing the revival of teen pop during the late 1990s and early 2000s. After appearing in stage productio ...

Patsy Cline Patsy is a given name often used as a diminutive of the feminine given name Patricia or sometimes the masculine name Patrick, or occasionally other names containing the syllable "Pat" (such as Cleopatra, Patience, Patrice, or Patricia). Among I ...

Randy Edelman Randy Edelman (born June 10, 1947) is an American musician, producer, and composer for film and television. He began his career as a member of Broadway's pit orchestras, and later went on to produce solo albums for songs that were picked up by ...

Pimpinela Joaquín and Lucía Galán, better known as Pimpinela (Spanish for '' pimpernel'') are an Argentine duo famous for singing romantic musical pieces and known for their original singing style. They have sold over 12 million records in Argentina ...

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) and Vanil Veigas (Ricky Kej,

Al Jewer Al Jewer is a Native American flutist originally from Detroit, Michigan. He has worked as a record producer and engineer, and as a studio musician, but he has become well known internationally for his work on the Native American flute. His earl ...

, Jeff Oster,

Kathy Sanborn Kathy Sanborn (born January 16, ?) is an American jazz vocalist and composer based in California. She won a 2015 American Songwriting Award for her song, "Fantasy." Style Sanborn has been compared to 1950s cool jazz singers Anita O'Day, Chris C ...

Wouter Kellerman Wouter Kellerman (born 20 September 1961) is a GRAMMY® Award-winning South African flautist, producer and composer who has won eight South African Music Awards. Using his classical training as a foundation, Kellerman has focused his attention ...

). "Mystic" entered the Zone Music Reporter's Top 100 Chart in the number 1 position in October, 2016. Conti's 2013 album, ''The Blue Rose'', immediately rose to the top #1 spot on the Zone Music Reporter (ZMR) Top 100 chart for May and June 2014. The album also reached #3 on the ZMR Top 100 Airplay Chart for 2013. His album ''Northern Seas'' garnered a

nomination, made

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek mythology * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon (company), an American multinational technology c ...

's Top 10 list for Best New Age Albums of 2010 and reached #2 in the

Zone Music Reporter Zone Music Reporter (formerly ''New Age Reporter'') is a website tracking New Age, world, and instrumental music. The site features weekly playlist, monthly airplay charts, and album reviews. Premium services are also offered to artists and their ...

's Top 100 chart for October 2010. His album ''Scheherazade'' topped the Zone Music Reporter Top 100 Chart at number 1 for three consecutive months, in October, November and December, 2008. The album also garnered four ZMR Lifestyle Music Awards nominations, including Album of the Year, and won Best World Album of 2008. ''Scheherazade'' also headed many radios 'Top 10' and 'Best of' lists,' as well as charting #5 on the ZMR's Top 100 Airplay Chart for 2008. His album ''Poeta'' was used as part of NPR's fundraising efforts in 2007 and his recording 'Quest for Orpheus,' from the same album, received a “Best of 2007” Award from Mystic Soundscapes Radio. In 2008, Al Conti joined

Kevin Bacon Kevin Norwood Bacon (born July 8, 1958) is an American actor. His films include the musical-drama film '' Footloose'' (1984), the controversial historical conspiracy legal thriller '' JFK'' (1991), the legal drama '' A Few Good Men'' (1992), t ...

Jessica Alba Jessica Marie Alba ( ; born April 28, 1981) is an American actress and businesswoman. She began her television and movie appearances at age 13 in '' Camp Nowhere'' and '' The Secret World of Alex Mack'' (1994), and rose to prominence at age 19 ...

, Will & Grace's

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and other celebrities lending their names to Until There's a Cure to help raise funds for HIV/AIDS awareness and research. Conti is also a member of Artists for Human Rights, an organization founded by actress

Anne Archer Anne Archer (born August 24, 1947) is an American actress. Archer was named Miss Golden Globe in 1971, and in the year following, appeared in her feature film debut ''The Honkers'' (1972). She had supporting roles in ''Cancel My Reservation'' (1 ...

. Conti has traveled widely and has lived in South America, Europe, and the United States. As an actor, he has appeared on television shows including the CBS daytime drama “

As the World Turns ''As the World Turns'' (often abbreviated as ''ATWT'') is an American television soap opera that aired on CBS for 54 years from April 2, 1956, to September 17, 2010. Irna Phillips created ''As the World Turns'' as a sister show to her other soa ...

,” in films, in numerous radio and television commercials, and on-stage in theatre productions in cities including New York City, Philadelphia, Tampa and Buenos Aires. Born and raised in Argentina, Conti comes from a family of artists in many fields. Al's family tree also includes the famous Argentinean writer and politician

Miguel Cané Miguel Cané (27 January 1851 – 5 September 1905) was an Argentinian writer, lawyer, academic, journalist and politician. Cané was born in Montevideo, Uruguay, where his family was exiled. He moved to Argentina at the age of two following the ...

, who held numerous political offices, notably as Argentine minister of external affairs and of the Interior and Mayor of the City of Buenos Aires.

Discography

* 2006 - ''Shadows'' (Shadowside Music) * 2007 - ''Poeta'' (Shadowside Music) * 2008 - ''Scheherazade'' (Shadowside Music) * 2010 - ''Northern Seas'' (Shadowside Music) * 2013 - ''The Blue Rose'' (Shadowside Music) * 2016 - ''Mystic'' (Shadowside Music)

Personal life

Conti is openly

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...

, confirming this in a radio interview in May 2012 when asked about personal relationships: "I have a partner who is very supportive of my work. I think this is the first time that I actually mention that I have a partner and that he is a man." He added that he maintains his privacy and never feels a need to speak of his personal life, adding, "I really never gave it a thought, I thought, you know, my music needs to speak for itself." In 2015, Al married Kevin, his longtime partner and manager. They make their home in

Bainbridge Island Bainbridge Island is a city and island in Kitsap County, Washington. It is located in Puget Sound. The population was 23,025 at the 2010 census and an estimated 25,298 in 2019, making Bainbridge Island the second largest city in Kitsap County. ...

, outside

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

with Digby and Quincy, their two adopted dogs. As of 2019, Al Conti has retired from the music business, in an official statement made by him in 2020.

References

Shadowside Music Al Conti Official Bio

New Age Reporter Top 100 Charts - July 2007

New Age Reporter Top 100 Charts - October 2008

New Age Reporter Top 100 Charts - November 2008

New Age Reporter Top 100 Charts - December 2008

NAR Lifestyle Music Awards 2008 Finalists

* ttps://www.grammy.com/grammys/artists/al-conti GRAMMY® Nomination: 'Best New Age Album' - Northern Seas

External links

* ttp://www.alconti.net/ Official Websitebr>Al Conti on Facebook Al Conti at All Music Guide
{{DEFAULTSORT:Conti, Al Living people Argentine composers New-age composers Gay musicians Argentine LGBT musicians 1968 births 20th-century LGBT people 21st-century LGBT people