Ancient rhythms. Contemporary vision.

Andrea Piccioni is one of the leading international voices in the art of frame drums and the Italian tamburello. His work expands the expressive possibilities of these instruments, moving between oral traditions, contemporary music, improvisation, jazz, early music and electronic soundscapes — bridging performance practice, research and educational design, with a particular focus on rhythm as an embodied, cross-cultural form of knowledge.

He is Professor of Frame Drums at the Saverio Arlia Conservatory in Nocera Terinese (CZ), where an academic course dedicated to Mediterranean frame drums was established under his direction. Alongside an active international performance career, he develops structured learning resources and lecture formats for universities, conservatories and higher education institutions.

His artistry has brought him to stages worldwide, performing alongside Bobby McFerrin, Richard Bona, Paul McCandless, Riccardo Tesi, Basel Rajoub “Soriana Project”, Luciano Biondini, Reinhard Mey, Manfred Leuchter, Gianluigi Trovesi, Les Haulz et Les Bas and Wu Man. Since 2014 he has been part of the Aga Khan Master Musicians, the international ensemble of the Aga Khan Music Programme: it is membership of the ensemble that carries the title of Master Musician. From there a relationship that moved from the stage into education: teaching at their schools in India, Lebanon and Egypt, and today the role of consultant to the programme.

His approach integrates traditional frame-drum languages with contemporary methods — live electronics included — and a pedagogical emphasis on the mind–body–instrument relationship.

FRAME MACHINE — solo project for frame drums and tamburello, jaw harp, voice and electronics.

Francesco Loccisano & Andrea Piccioni duo — battente guitar (Italian ten-string guitar) and frame drums.

Masters of Frame Drums — with Glen Velez, Zohar Fresco and Murat Coşkun. Links and dates, and the 2018 record.

International masterclasses and festival teaching: Tamburi Mundi, the Silkroad Ensemble Global Musician Workshop, and others.

What I actually carry on stage. Every frame drum is chosen for a specific job — a repertoire, a technique, a register.

Frame drums. The Italian tamburello, traditional and modern, at the centre of everything; the tar in a thin shell for a clear, forward attack and in a deep shell for the low register; the bendir; the riqq of Arabic classical music, with its own system of strokes.

Idiophones. Castanets and sgnacchere — the small instruments that historically travel with frame drums — plus the jaw harp in its marranzano, doromb and ribeba forms.

Electronics. Loopy Pro on iPad at the centre of the system, with Eventide and Moog effects: the tamburello treated as a sound source rather than only as a drum. That is FRAME MACHINE.

My frame drums are the Muses series, which I conceived and Biagio Panico builds in olive wood — the instruments in detail. I also play Majid Drums.

Aga Khan Master Musicians — member of the ensemble since 2014: a membership that carries with it the title of Master Musician. Appearances include the Edinburgh International Festival, the Royal Albert Hall, Wigmore Hall and the London Jazz Festival. The official profile.

The relationship with the Aga Khan Music Programme began on stage and moved into education: teaching at their schools in India, Lebanon and Egypt, and today the role of consultant to the programme.

Frame Drums Italia International Festival — he held the artistic direction for seven years.

Silkroad — artist profile and teaching at the Global Musician Workshop, on frame drum repertory across traditions. The profile.

Quirinale Palace, Rome, May 2022 — with the Shuluq Ensemble, of which he is a founding member, in the concert given before President Sergio Mattarella of Italy and President Abdelmadjid Tebboune of Algeria.

Mediterranean Games 2022 — member of the jury for the music selection.

Instrumental direction of the academic course in Mediterranean Frame Drums at the “Saverio Arlia” Conservatory, Nocera Terinese (Catanzaro) — the course.

Distance learning: the Tamburello Total video pathway, from beginner to advanced — the online courses.

Higher-education lecture: “Tamburello in Italian Traditional Music”, around 60 minutes with projections and audiovisual examples.

International masterclasses and festival teaching: Tamburi Mundi, the Silkroad Ensemble Global Musician Workshop, PASIC, and others.

Il tamburello in Europa tra 1700 e 1800 (Squilibri, October 2026) · Il tamburo a cornice e gli stati di coscienza (Rivus, 2026) · Il Tamburello. Arte, storia, tecnica (Kurumuny, 2024) · Music for Frame Drums (Da Vinci Edition, 2024) · Il Ritmo della Parola, a manual of Indian rhythmic language (2016) · Il Tamburello Italiano, method (2006) and instructional DVD (2009). Those still in print.

A lecture for universities, conservatories and higher education institutions. After years of research based on iconographic sources and historical documents, Andrea traces the history of the tamburello in Italy — from its roots in the Greco-Roman period to its widest diffusion between 1700 and 1800, when the instrument enjoyed extraordinary fame across Europe. A journey between traditional and art music, intended to place the instrument beyond simplifications and commonplaces.

The session lasts approximately 60 minutes and requires a video projector connected to an external audio source.

Posters, concert programmes and press cuttings from twenty years of work, in Italy and abroad, most recent first.

Ready to download for promoters, festivals and press offices.