Biography
Elisa Citterio first gained recognition in Italy for her historically informed violin playing while also performing on modern instruments in various orchestral settings. In 2017 she became music director of Toronto’s Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra, only the second musician to assume that role.
Born in Brescia in 1975, she grew up in a family steeped in music: her two sisters pursued professional careers as performers, and both her mother and brother composed. Already active on violin and piano during preschool, she turned to Baroque chamber repertoire in her teens alongside her mother and one sister. At sixteen she entered the Conservatorio di Musica “Luca Marenzio” in Brescia for studies in violin and viola, holding a full scholarship throughout the five-year course. After graduation she took further lessons from Dora Schwarzberg, Matis Vaitsner, and Ilya Grubert, among others. She next served as concertmaster of the La Scala Opera Academy Orchestra in Milan, where she gained experience across operatic, orchestral, and chamber repertory. In 2000 she made her debut with the ensemble in Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante for violin, viola, and orchestra, K. 364. She deepened her command of period violin technique through work with Chiara Banchini, Luigi Mangiocavallo, and Enrico Onofri. By 2004 she had joined the full La Scala Opera Orchestra and appeared under Riccardo Muti with the Luigi Cherubini Youth Orchestra.
Over the following ten years she contributed to numerous recordings spanning Baroque, Classical, and Romantic literature. Between 2014 and 2016 she co-chaired the Baroque violin program at Milan’s Civica Scuola di Musica Claudio Abbado. She performed with Accademia Bizantina, La Venexiana, and other leading Italian early-music ensembles. In 2017 she was appointed music director of Tafelmusik, succeeding the ensemble’s founding director Jeanne Lamon, and moved to Toronto’s Kensington Market neighborhood with her partner and daughter. Two years later she led Tafelmusik as soloist and director on the album Vivaldi con amore.
Born in Brescia in 1975, she grew up in a family steeped in music: her two sisters pursued professional careers as performers, and both her mother and brother composed. Already active on violin and piano during preschool, she turned to Baroque chamber repertoire in her teens alongside her mother and one sister. At sixteen she entered the Conservatorio di Musica “Luca Marenzio” in Brescia for studies in violin and viola, holding a full scholarship throughout the five-year course. After graduation she took further lessons from Dora Schwarzberg, Matis Vaitsner, and Ilya Grubert, among others. She next served as concertmaster of the La Scala Opera Academy Orchestra in Milan, where she gained experience across operatic, orchestral, and chamber repertory. In 2000 she made her debut with the ensemble in Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante for violin, viola, and orchestra, K. 364. She deepened her command of period violin technique through work with Chiara Banchini, Luigi Mangiocavallo, and Enrico Onofri. By 2004 she had joined the full La Scala Opera Orchestra and appeared under Riccardo Muti with the Luigi Cherubini Youth Orchestra.
Over the following ten years she contributed to numerous recordings spanning Baroque, Classical, and Romantic literature. Between 2014 and 2016 she co-chaired the Baroque violin program at Milan’s Civica Scuola di Musica Claudio Abbado. She performed with Accademia Bizantina, La Venexiana, and other leading Italian early-music ensembles. In 2017 she was appointed music director of Tafelmusik, succeeding the ensemble’s founding director Jeanne Lamon, and moved to Toronto’s Kensington Market neighborhood with her partner and daughter. Two years later she led Tafelmusik as soloist and director on the album Vivaldi con amore.
Albums