Torres, as he is known in the guitar world, was born and died in Almería outskirts (1817-1892), La Cañada de San Urbano, halfway between Níjar fields and Almeria coast. He also lived in Vera and Seville (for more than 25 years), as well as in Barcelona, although not for long.
There are two well-defined periods in his career (recognizable in his own labels): The first of them takes place in Seville, where he attained a well-deserved good reputation, being awarded in 1858 Exposition. The second, in Almeria, where he worked from 1875 almost until the day of his very death.
Antonio de Torres is regarded as the father of the guitar, and for a good reason. Choosing the elements which worked best in previous periods, and thanks to his innovations, he obtained the instrument we all know as a guitar, both flamenco and classical one.
He was the man who managed to raise the guitar to the category of concert instrument. In addition, he gave the guitar its shape and sound as we know it nowadays. His guitar model was welcome by the makers Manuel Ramírez, Santos Hernández, Hermann Hauser I, Albert Augustine or Robert Bouchet, thus perpetuating his pattern all around the world.
He made guitars for Julián Arcas, one of the pioneers of flamenco playing, and the creator of the rondeñas, among some other flamenco compositions.
His guitars have been (and are) played by great Maestros of the guitar of the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries: J. Arcas, F. Tárrega, E. Pujol. F. Cano, M. Llobet, R. Sainz de la Maza, A. Segovia, N. Yepes, J. Romero, D. Russell, Stefano Grondona, A. York, C. Trepat…
The composers found in Torres´s guitars the tool which allowed them to create a brand new way of composing, which was called the Rennaisance of the Guitar. A few examples would be: E. Granados, M. de Falla, H. Villa-Lobos, J. Rodrigo, Francisco Tárrega…