"Nico is an ace, a crack… I am a fan!" - Chico Buarque de Holanda Italian-Argentinian singer-songwriter and guitarist Nicolás Farruggia starts playing the guitar at the age of 8 after being "struck by lightning" at a B.B. King concert. At the age of 22 he graduates from one of North America’s most prestigious Music Schools (Indiana University School of Music, Bloomington, Indiana) and goes off to the UK for a Master’s degree in performance at the Royal Academy of Music in London. His passion for Latin-american popular music takes him then to Brazil, where he lives for more than seven years, learning the songwriter’s tricks-of-the-trade in close contact with Roberto Mendes, Rosa Passos, Roberto Menescal, Capinan and many others Brazilian masters. After recording two solo albums, Mátria (voice and guitar, Rio de Janeiro, 2009) and Nico ~ Latinidade (São Paulo/Havana, 2012), he moves to Florence to start a Forró quartet called Forró Miór. In less than 20 months the quartet performs over 200 concerts, in more than 50 cities, in 8 different European countries. In 2016, he moves to Lisbon, which proves to be "the place to be" due to the great interaction amongst many international musicians of different genres and cultures. Out of this melting pot, a new project is born: Orquestra Latinidade, joining musicians from all over the world. In March 2019, commissioned by Largo Residencias, he creates the Lisbon Buskers Ensemble (LiBÊ), composing, arranging and directing new music for more than 20 musicians on stage. His latest album Poema Livre features a duet with brazilian giant Chico Buarque de Holanda, besides Argentinian singer Helena Helft and Cantores’ own prime mandolin virtuoso Rudá Brauns (Sexteto Sucupira).