Vermont-based new age composer/multi-instrumentalist Al Conti was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, of Italian and German ancestry. Growing up in Argentina, he developed interests in acting and music. He began teaching himself to play piano and guitar at age six, and started acting lessons at eight. Those lessons led to a career as a stage actor in Argentina. He moved to the U.S. at 17, and by the age of 20 had an agent, resulting in roles on-stage, in film, and on the soap opera As the World Turns. In the early '90s, he became more serious about composing music, but it wasn't until 2004 that he gave up acting in favor of music. In 2006, he released his debut album, Shadows, on his own Shadowside label. Poeta followed in 2007, and on October 7, 2008, Conti released Scheherazade. ~ William Ruhlmann