ELIA PORTARENA (ITALY)

Elia Portarena, a young Italian talent, was born in Orvieto in May 2000 and the guitar became part of his life at the age of two. He first studied with his father and, at the age of 13, he entered the “G. Briccialdi” Conservatory in Terni with maestro Roberto Fabbri, where he graduated at just 19 years old. Throughout his musical career, he has won the podium of about 60 national and international competitions. Among them, the “JS Bach International Guitar Competition” in Tokyo in 2017, where he received the first overall prize. He was followed by the 'International Classical Guitar Competition of Seville «Spanish Composers»' , the 'City of Coria' Guitar Competition and the 'Alhambra International Guitar Competition in Valencia', all in 2021. In September 2016 he was selected by the Scientific Committee of the 'Michele Pittaluga' International Guitar Competition and, on the occasion of the 50th International Guitar Competition, he made his debut at the Alessandria Conservatory. He has obtained several scholarships and awards , including those of the Stefano Strata Academy in Pisa, awarded by the masters Aniello Desiderio, Paolo Pegoraro and Zoran Dukic. In his musical training he has attended master classes with the most prestigious teachers on the guitar scene, such as Marcin Dylla, Leo Brouwer, Carlo Marchione, Frédéric Zigante, Marco Tamayo, Pavel Staidl, Thomas Offerman, Giulio Tampalini and many others. Angelo Gilardino composed for him the song « Sicut lilium inter spinas » (Poemetto per chitarra dedicated to Elia Portarena). In 2021 his CD titled "Le Départ" (Dotguitar label) was released with pieces by Coste, Ponce, Castelnuovo-Tedesco, Gilardino, Llobet, Rodrigo, Zani de Ferranti. To know more about Elia Portarena: Instagram @eliaportarena TikTok @eliaportarena