Born in Parma, Italy, CLAUDIO PIASTRA has given hundreds of concerts at festivals and international concert seasons around the world. He has performed with some of the world's leading orchestras and conductors, and has been featured artist in numerous television and radio broadcasts. The American Records' Guide awarded him the prestigious "Globe" award for his Schubert album and wrote: "Unquestionably one of the most interesting recordings of Schubert, a must-have CD." Claudio made the first complete double-tracked recording of the 24 Preludes and Fugues for 2 guitars by Castelnuovo Tedesco. It is now in its third pressing by Warner Fonit. Since that time he has released a score of CDs to critical acclaim for: Fonit Cetra, Europa Musica, Koch International, Mondo Musica, Warner Fonit.
He is equally active in the area of publishing where he has revised and edited 45 volumes of arrangements and original works for guitar (Carish, Mnemes, Suvini Zerboni, Berbén). A professor at the Achille Peri Music Institute in Reggio Emilia, Italy, he has been invited to hold master classes in Italy, Canada, France, Austria, Brazil, Uruguay, Spain and other countries. In 2011 he was appointed its Artistic Director after he gave the annual guitar master class at the prestigious Tadini Academy of Fine Arts of Lovere, Bergamo in 2010.