Riccardo Formosa (born 1 September 1954) is an Italian-born Australian musician and composer. He was the lead guitarist of the pop band

Little River Band Little River Band (LRB) are a rock band originally formed in Melbourne, Australia, in March 1975. The band achieved commercial success in both Australia and the United States. They have sold more than 30 million records; six studio albums r ...

from 1975 to 1976 and recorded their first two albums, ''

'' and '' After Hours''.

Early life

Formosa was born in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

, Italy, but grew up in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple- ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Government of Canada, Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is ...

, Canada. He migrated to Australia in 1974 and worked as a music arranger and studio musician. He joined the Little River Band shortly after arriving in Australia.

Little River Band

The original Little River Band (LRB) lead guitarist,

Graham Davidge Graham Davidge is an Australian musician. He has played with Little River Band (1975), Tidewater (1976), Goanna (1982–83) and numerous other Australian bands. Davidge was chosen as the original lead guitarist for Little River Band. He play ...

, played only on LRB's first recording session, a cover of

The Everly Brothers The Everly Brothers were an American rock duo, known for steel-string acoustic guitar playing and close harmony singing. Consisting of Isaac Donald "Don" Everly (February 1, 1937 – August 21, 2021) and Phillip "Phil" Everly (January 19, 193 ...

' song '' When Will I Be Loved''. Formosa replaced Davidge shortly after. Formosa played on the first two LRB albums, ''

'' and '' After Hours'', including the long guitar solo on ''

It's a Long Way There "It's a Long Way There" is a song by Australian band Little River Band, released in August 1976 as the band's debut international single and in October 1976 as the third single from the group's self-titled studio album. The song peaked at number ...

'' on the former. For the latter, he wrote the song "Bourbon Street" and co-wrote "Another Runaway" with fellow member

Beeb Birtles Beeb Birtles (born Gerard Bertelkamp, 28 November 1948) is an Australian musician, singer, songwriter and guitarist. He has been a member of various Australian groups including Zoot (1967–71), Mississippi (1972–74), Little River Band (1975� ...

. Formosa toured Australia with LRB, playing 311 shows in 1975–1976. He was replaced by David Briggs in August 1976. On 19 August 1980, Formosa joined an ensemble of pop artists in a memorial concert for Andrew Durant, the former Stars' guitarist-songwriter who had died earlier that year. Formosa played slide guitar, guitar and piano. A live double- LP, ''The Andrew Durant Memorial Concert'', was released on

Mushroom Records Mushroom Records was an Australian flagship record label, founded in 1972 in Melbourne. It published and distributed many successful Australian artists and expanded internationally, until it was merged with Festival Records in 1998. Festival M ...

in 1980.

Composer

Formosa was awarded an

Australia Council The Australia Council for the Arts, commonly known as the Australia Council, is the country's official arts council, serving as an arts funding and advisory body for the Government of Australia. The council was announced in 1967 as the Austr ...

fellowship in 1983 and studied with Franco Donatoni at the

Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia The Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia ( en, National Academy of St Cecilia) is one of the oldest musical institutions in the world, founded by the papal bull ''Ratione congruit'', issued by Sixtus V in 1585, which invoked two saints promi ...

in Rome and at the

Accademia Musicale Chigiana The Accademia Musicale Chigiana (''English'': Chigiana Musical Academy) is a music institute in Siena, Italy. It was founded by Count Guido Chigi-Saracini in 1932 as an international centre for advanced musical studies. It organises Master Clas ...

Siena Siena ( , ; lat, Sena Iulia) is a city in Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the province of Siena. The city is historically linked to commercial and banking activities, having been a major banking center until the 13th and 14th centur ...

. He also attended masterclasses in conducting with Franco Ferrara. On returning to Australia, Formosa worked for

Victorian College of the Arts The Victorian College of the Arts (VCA) is the arts school at the University of Melbourne in Australia. It is part of the university's Faculty of Fine Arts and Music. It is located near the Melbourne city centre on the Southbank campus of the ...

, the Victorian Arts Studio and

Musica Viva Musica Viva was founded in 1945 by Romanian-born violinist Richard Goldner, with the aim of bringing chamber music to Australia. The co-founder was a German-born musicologist, Walter Dullo. At its inception, Musica Viva was a string ensemble perf ...

. Formosa works as an arranger, conductor and studio musician for recordings, radio and television. He also has an extensive catalogue of compositions.

Awards

Formosa has won awards and commendations during his career, including:

Family

Formosa's daughter Antonella is a successful singer who performs and records as A-Love.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Formosa, Ric 1954 births Living people APRA Award winners Australian film score composers Male film score composers Little River Band members Musicians from Rome Australian music arrangers Italian emigrants to Australia Australian record producers Australian rock guitarists Italian emigrants to Canada Lead guitarists Australian conductors (music) 21st-century conductors (music) Australian male guitarists