biography

Clarinet player, winner of several international competitions as soloist and chamber musician, Elena was born near Bologna.

Elena obtained her clarinet diploma at the Conservatory G.B. Martini  in Bologna in 2009. She then continued her studies at the Fiesole School of Music in Florence with Giovanni Riccucci and at the Academy of Music “Scatola Sonora” in Rome with Calogero Palermo. After completing her studies in Italy, in 2012 she moved to Salzburg where she studied at the Mozarteum University with Alois Brandhofer. She obtained her Master of Arts degree in 2016 with full marks and unanimous praise from the commission. Finally, she attended the Post-Graduate course in the same University, which ended in 2018 with top marks in the class of Andreas Schablas.

As soloist, in addition to having won more prizes in national and international competitions, including the second prize at the AudiMozart Competition! 2016 in Italy, she is performing with several ensembles and orchestras. Among the last concerts, we remember the performances of the W. A. Mozart concert for clarinet accompanied by the orchestra at the Mozarteum University of Salzburg and by the Amadeus Consort Salzburg.

Passionate about chamber music, she has performed and recorded with various ensembles in countries such as Austria, France, Sweden, Canada, Russia, Romania, Bulgaria, Italy and Germany. Some of her accomplishments in international chamber music competitions count the Third Prize at the Fischoff Competition, USA, the First Prize in the international competition “e-Muse”, Greece, the Second Prize in the international competition “ENKOR”, Germany, and the Fourth Prize in the international chamber music competition of the city of Plovdiv, Bulgaria. She was a finalist of the Brahms International Competition, Austria and at the Premio Amici della Musica di Verona, Italy. Among the various collaborations, there is the one with the Fauves String Quartet of Ravenna and the intense concert activity as a member of the Ensemble San Marco Salzburg and of the Quantum Clarinet Trio. Since 2021 she is part of the prestigious European Chamber Music Academy.

Complementary to her chamber music activity, orchestra playing is her next most valued professional endeavor. In recent years, her ensemble projects were alternated with seasonal orchestral collaborations in various Italian theaters, as well as tours with various orchestras around the world. She performed under the baton of famous conductors, including Juraj Valcuha, Hans Graf, Justus Frantz, Francesco Ivan Ciampa, Donato Renzetti and Daniel Oren, playing in magnificent concert halls and festivals such as Konzerthaus Berlin, Teatro San Carlo in Naples, Laeiszhalle of Hamburg, the brand new Jiangsu Grand Theater in Nanjing in China, the Arena Opera Festival in Verona and the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival. Among the orchestras and lyrical-symphonic foundations with which she has collaborated and collaborates are the orchestra of the Teatro San Carlo in Naples, the orchestra of the Teatro Lirico of Cagliari, the orchestra of the Arena of Verona foundation, the Ingolstadt Chamber Orchestra, the Haydn orchestra of Bolzano and Trento, the Hulencourt Soloist Chamber Orchestra of Brussels, the Leonore Orchestra of Pistoia, the World Peace Philharmonic and the Philharmonie der Nationen of Hamburg.

Elena is Clarinet Professor at the Regional Music School of Upper Austria.

In her spare time, she is interested in history and literature and has attended for some years the Faculty of Philosophy and Letters of the Alma Mater Studiorum University of Bologna. Besides reading, she likes to visit the museums and explore the cultural and artistic backgrounds of the cities where her activity takes her.