Born in Rome in 1956, he began to study the piano at a very early age.

In 1965 he enrolled in the Santa Cecilia Conservatory, and followed courses in piano performance, composition and orchestral conducting until 1977.
Starting in 1973, he began to play as accompanist for theatrical productions and contemporary dance classes, where he developed a solid and sophisticated improvisation technique which in 1975 led to the Rome Cineclub " L'Officina " inviting him to perform as piano accompanist for a series of silent film retrospectives.
He was so fascinated and inspired by this experience that he gave up all other musical activities in order to devote himself exclusively to creating soundtracks for silent cinema. From that time onwards, Antonio Coppola has been the acclaimed guest of film festivals and retrospectives all over the world, bothas a musician and as a member of juries, as well as having been engaged by a number of film archives and universities as a research consultant on the restoration of original soundtrack.
He has also taught at workshops and given papers at conferences on techniques of improvisation and the composition of soundtracks for silent cinema.