Riccardo Marra

RICCARDO MARRA

Guitarist, Singer, Composer, Producer & Author

Riccardo Marra began his musical education at the age of six, initially studying clarinet under the guidance of Marco Giani. At eleven, he started studying electric guitar at the Alpha Musica Academy with Andrea Lanza, exploring a wide range of musical genres, from heavy metal to jazz.

In 2014, he enrolled at the A. Manzoni Music High School in Varese, where he studied classical guitar with Paolo Pugliese and jazz guitar with Pippo Mortillaro and Paco Trotta. In 2018, he continued his musical education at the G. Verdi Conservatory in Como, specializing in jazz and fusion guitar under the guidance of Bebo Ferra.

He began performing live at the age of thirteen as the guitarist and lead vocalist of Metal Shot, a band with which he won three music competitions and embarked on his first tour across Northern and Central Italy. In 2015, he founded Basket Bounce, a jazz-fusion project that secured a recording contract with a label associated with the popular Italian radio show Lo Zoo di 105.

In 2018, he began working as a professional session musician, collaborating with nationally and internationally renowned artists, including Ivan Ciccarelli and Californian singer Sherrita Duran. That same year, he performed for an entire season at the Montreux Casino in Switzerland, while in 2019, one of his original compositions received radio airplay on Italy’s national broadcaster, RAI Radio.

In 2022, he joined productions by the United Soloists Orchestra, performing at the Palazzo dei Congressi in Lugano under the direction of conductor Arseniy Shkaptsov. This marked the beginning of an ongoing collaboration, leading to numerous performances in major Swiss cities.

Between 2022 and 2023, he toured with gospel singer Sherrita Duran. In 2023, he performed in front of approximately 15,000 people at Rugby Varese and appeared at Milan’s historic Sforza Castle in the production Rock Circus, alongside Paride Orfei. During the same year, he toured Germany and the Czech Republic with the ska band Skassa Punka before relocating to Miami, Florida.

In 2024, he worked as a professional musician for Tallink, performing aboard cruise ships operating in the Baltic Sea and Scandinavia. He subsequently toured across Europe with the international production The Rockstar Show.

Alongside his performing career, Marra pursued entrepreneurial activities in the live entertainment industry, managing a live music venue in the province of Varese, Italy. He also works as a music producer and arranger, collaborating with Marcello Franzoso on the production of a new recording project by Italian entertainer Enzo Iacchetti.

In 2026, he made his literary debut with “La Chiamavano Musica – La decadenza della musica occidentale e l’avvento dell’AI” (They Called It Music – The Decline of Western Music and the Rise of Artificial Intelligence), a work combining essay and fiction that critically explores the transformation of Western music, the recording industry, and the growing influence of artificial intelligence on artistic creation.

He currently continues his international performing career with the United Soloists Orchestra and various rock and blues projects, including Motorband and Crazy Legs, while remaining actively involved in composition, music production, and writing.