Italy – UK
sunday, may 17th – 7 pm
Booking information coming soon
Described by Maestro Alberto Ponce as “a rising star in the world of the guitar,” Elena Zucchini studied with internationally renowned teachers such as Claudio Marcotulli and Stephan Schmidt. She graduated with highest honours from the Conservatory “G. B. Pergolesi” in Fermo and subsequently earned a Master of Arts in Performance with distinction from the prestigious Musik-Akademie der Stadt Basel.
She has performed as a soloist and chamber musician in Italy, Ireland, Mexico, Cuba, Colombia, Israel, Belgium, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Spain, and the Canary Islands, receiving unanimous acclaim for her performances.
From 2010 to 2015, she served as co-director of Draft Audio Production, collaborating with internationally distinguished artists and institutions including John Williams, Manchester Camerata, Les Violons du Roy, Marc-André Hamelin, Julian Lloyd Webber, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Clare College Choir of Cambridge.
Since 2014, she has been among the featured artists of the British cruise lines P&O and Cunard, performing throughout Europe, Asia, the United States, and Latin America.
For two consecutive years, she was invited to perform at the British Embassy in Jerusalem during the celebrations of Queen Elizabeth II’s birthday.
In 2017, she performed at London’s Bolívar Hall in the concert “Homage to Leo Brouwer,” attended by Leo Brouwer himself as well as John Williams.
She has lived in London since 2010, where she teaches classical guitar at the prestigious Sussex House School in Chelsea. Her debut album, released in the summer of 2011 and featuring works by Dyens, Scarlatti, Giuliani, Petrassi, and Davidovsky, has been regularly broadcast on RTÉ, Ireland’s national radio station.
Elena collaborates closely with several Cuban artists, including guitarists Eduardo Martín, Walfrido Domínguez, and Galy Martín, percussionist Hammadi Valdés, and singer-percussionist Rey Crespo. She is also guitarist and vocalist of the Obdara Trio.
In recent years, she has given masterclasses and performed at numerous international festivals, including the “Campamento de Guitarra de Arbeláez” (Colombia), the “Festival de Guitarra Identidades” (Cuba), the “Guitar Summer Course” (Belgium), the “Guitar Festival Narbonne” (France), “Guitarrismo” (United Kingdom), the “Festival delle Due Città” in Treviso (Italy), and at the Fontys Academy of the Arts (Netherlands). She is also a faculty member of the international platform “Guitar by Masters.”
Her most recent project is a collaboration with Cuban guitarist and composer Walfrido Domínguez, which resulted in the album Cuba: Cuaderno de Viaje, released in December 2021.
In October 2023, she opened the “Festival de Música Contemporánea” in Havana, giving the world premiere of two guitar concertos by Walfrido Domínguez with the chamber orchestra Música Eterna, conducted by Maestro Guido López-Gavilán.
In March 2025, she appeared as a guest on the Rai 3 television programme Via dei Matti Numero Zero, performing both as a soloist and in duo with pianist and host Stefano Bollani.
Elena and Walfrido are currently working on two new albums — one for solo guitar and one for voice and guitar — as well as new concertos for guitar and orchestra.
“A versatile and imaginative concert artist who, through her elegantly crafted programmes, displays insight and virtuosity.”
— Graham Wade, Classical Guitar Magazine
“Embracing the guitar with fierceness, as if she were in love, Elena proves that this music goes far beyond what the ear alone can perceive.”
— Gemma Bayod, Cloud
“An ideal interpreter in whom musical intelligence and technique go hand in hand at a level that few of us are fortunate enough to encounter in a lifetime. Elena reveals to us a limitless guitar, where music alone is the absolute master of time and space.”
— Eduardo Martín
Alirio Diaz International Guitar Festival 