Loading details…
Artist
Stephan Forté
12+ albums
Progressive metalguitar virtuosoShredinstrumentalneo-classical metal
about
French guitarist virtuoso, mastermind of the neo-classical prog metal band Adagio. In 1997, one year after he had been graduated from the famous music school CMCN, Stéphan Forté composed his first instrumental demo Visions, which is considered to be the starting point of the Adagio adventure. This demo, being very clearly Neoclassical-oriented, quickly helped Stephans name to be noticed among the guitaristic community and allowed him to sign his first endorsement deals with Godin (guitars) and Rocktron (effects). In June 1998, he opened for Yngwie Malmsteen and was contacted by producer Chris Tsangarides (Ozzy Osbourne, Judas Priest, Gary Moore...) who wished to work with him. The same year he finally started a showcase tour for Rocktron and his new sponsor: Lag Guitars. In 1999, Olivier Garnier, former artistic director at CNR Music (Angra, Symphony X...), asked Stephan to compose some new material with vocals. Stunned by the virtuosity of the guitar-keyboard interplay, Garnier sent Stéphan to Philadelphia, PA (USA) to record and eventually form a band with Ukrainian keyboard player Vitalij Kuprij, who was then recording for the well-known Shrapnel Records label (Steve Vai, Yngwie Malmsteen...). The two musicians spent two weeks together working, but gradually became aware of their different views on music. Finally they decided to put an end to their collaboration after they had recorded a four tracks demo. Stéphan came back to France to finish his compositions and then
