Elena Talarico

Biography

Elena Talarico graduated in piano from the Claudio Abbado Civic School of Music with a grade of 110 with honours and a thesis on the development of the keyboard prelude from Bach to the 20th century. Subsequently, she completed a two-year specialisation in solo piano performance at the G. Verdi Conservatory in Como, under the guidance of M° Pier Francesco Forlenza, with 110 cum laude and honourable mention and a thesis on Claude Debussy.
Since 2024 he has been attending the Contemporary Piano Course at the Academy of Music in Pinerolo, under the guidance of M° Emanuele Arciuli.

After attending the crossover chamber music course with M° Francesco Zago at the IRMus in Milan, she obtained a master's degree in Music and Performing Arts (musicology curriculum) with 110 cum laude at the University of Milan, with a thesis on Górecki's Third Symphony.

Thanks to her musicology studies, Elena also studied instrumentation and orchestration with M° Gianni Possio and explored the world of theatre and music criticism. In 2022 she completed a two-year specialisation in chamber music at the Conservatory of Como with M° Moretti, with the highest marks, with a project in trio with flute and classical guitar dedicated to new music, with the collaboration of important composers (F. Zago, G. Colombo Taccani, S. Bianchera, B. Rettagliati, V. Zago).
She received several awards during her studies, winning numerous scholarships and prizes in national and international competitions as a soloist and in chamber ensembles. In 2018 she won the prestigious Exploit your talent award from the University of Milan, a scholarship reserved for the university's best students with particular artistic talent.

In addition to her solo repertoire, she is a pianist in various chamber music projects. In 2016 she founded KUBIN with electric guitarist Francesco Zago, a project born from the idea of performing original music, arrangements and transcriptions from classical to contaminated rock. The duo has dedicated original pieces to various composers and in 2019 they released the CD ‘The Other Side’ on the Da Vinci label. Since 2018 he has been the pianist of the Eurythmia Quartet with cellist Emanuele Rigamonti, clarinettist Giona Pasquetto and violinist Sofia Manvati, which aims to explore the most advanced and less frequented modern and contemporary repertoire.

In the same year, he recorded O. Messiaen's Quatuor pour la fin du temps with the quartet for the Da Vinci label. He also plays in the Ensemble Ars Electrica with Laura Catrani, Stefano Grasso, Elisa La Marca, Arturo Garra and Francesco Zago. With the pianist Sandra Scurani he founded the Duo Lilith, with whom he explores the modern and contemporary repertoire in piano duos.

He frequently plays in Italy and abroad and performs for prestigious festivals and events in various halls and theatres such as the Museo Teatrale alla Scala, the Teatro Sociale di Como, Villa Litta di Lainate, Sala Barozzi in Milan, and the Duomo di Salerno.

In addition to his concert activity, in recent years he has recorded for numerous composers and record labels, including Da Vinci Publishing (Osaka), Ravello Records (USA), Preludio and Halidon Music. She also plays for various artistic initiatives within exhibitions, museums and presentations: in 2018 she played within the exhibition 999 domande (999 questions) and for the inauguration of the exhibition dedicated to Osvaldo Borsani, both at the Triennale di Milano.

In order to improve his teaching approach, in 2020 he obtained a first level university master's degree with top marks in socio-pedagogical methodologies in artistic-musical teaching, with a thesis on improvisation as a teaching tool, and in 2021 he specialised in teaching with the CLIL methodology in English with a grade of 110/110. She attending the qualifying course for teaching literary subjects in secondary schools.

Elena Talarico is passionate about teaching, and has been a piano teacher at the civic school in Lecco, the ‘P. Secco Suardo’ Music High School in Bergamo and the music department of the Istituto Comprensivo Statale in Cremeno, the ‘G.B. Grassi’ Music High School in Lecco.
Since 2025, he has been a permanent piano professor at the “G. Verdi” Music High School in Milan.