Antóni O’Breskey (Antonio Breschi) is a classical, Jazz, and minimalist composer, pianist, trumpet player, folk singer, writer, poet and music educator.
He graduated in piano from the conservatory Luigi Cherubini in Florence, where he also studied trumpet.
Oliver Sweeney, in the Irish music magazine Hot Press, wrote of him: “He is a genius whose music is without frontiers, and whose originality makes him one of the most innovative artists in the varied musical genres of today.”
He is a prolific composer and pianist with a very personal style: “one of the most exciting sounds we have heard in years" (The 20th Queen Festival at Queen, Belfast 1981).
His compositions for cello and piano, and for oboe and piano, as well as his world music have been used as soundtracks for films, television programs, theatre and ballets.
He has often crossed barriers between musical genres, “he was the first to combine Flamenco, Basque, Arabic, Latin and Irish elements, his virtuoso jazz-styled piano uniting these traditions in remarkably original compositions, the categories of “World” and “New Age” music did not exist when Breschi began his trailblazing journey”.
(Fiona Ritchie, The National Public Radio Curious Listener's guide to Celtic Music U.S.A)
He has recorded more than 35 albums, with the participation of extraordinary musicians from all over the world , which form "The Nomadic Piano Collection".
With his work "Orekan: The Ethnic Symphony" he created a new “symphonic” concept, bringing together piano with a vast variety of "not tempered” instruments, belonging to many different ethnic traditions.
Antoni O' composed the music for the documentary film "Il Linguaggio Dei Luoghi" (The Language of Places) by film director Folco Quilici, and for many other documentaries by the same film director (Le Alpi, Le Isole, etc). He composed the music for the movie "Le Colline del Garda" by film director Franco Piavoli, for the Irish film "The Nock" by film director Dennis MacArdle.
He also composed the music for Richard the third by Shakespeare for actor Giorgio Albertazzi, and together with Zappalá Dance and Sicilian Ballet , he created the work "Mediterraneo, le antiche sponde del future" (The Ancient Shores of the Future) which was performed all over Italy, Spain and North Africa.
He created music for a television series named "Il Suono E La Terra" (The Sound and the Land) for the Italian National television channel RAI 3 all based on his musical journey.
He has written 4 books: “Ecologia: Salviamo Anche la Musica”, “Semiminime”, “When Bach Was an Irish Man and Mozart a Gipsy Boy” and “Heyoka: Il Giullare dell'Anima”.
In 2008 Swiss National Radio Television presented his book "Heyoka: Il giullare dell'anima" with an event and concert that celebrated his career as a composer, performer, music educator, and his social work through music with Italian and Spanish immigrants, which they cited as having contributed greatly to the dialogue among all people and cultures.