Critically acclaimed Italian jazz guitarist Eleonora Strino recently came to the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library and played an exceptional 90-minute concert for the audience in attendance, at Washington, DCs premier public library auditorium in the heart of downtown.
The beautiful MLK Library Auditorium holds 291 persons and hosts numerous prestigious events throughout the year. In a fantastic booking, Concerts in America privately paid for the venue and arranged all production and promotion of the event. Thanks to Concerts in America for producing such a great global artist at our public library on April 13.
Strino is well known as one of the best guitarists in the jazz arena all over the world and has been influenced by the arts her entire life. Strino was born into an artistic family in Italy learning to play guitar early in life. She briefly discussed some of the artistic abilities of her father during the concert, which helped highlight where some of her passion for guitar playing probably came from.
Strino had numerous amounts of classic jazz guitar playing growing up in Italy studying at the Conservatory in Naples as a young guitarist with further training at the Conservatory in Amsterdam. Today, not only is she touring and recording as a jazz musician, she also teaches jazz workshops in various countries, including Brazil and Spain, and her native Italy just to mention a few countries.
In DC, Strino started in great form, playing several songs before taking a break to allow her highly-renown pianist Claudio Vignali to take center stage and play for a few minutes. This routine was used with great success throughout the outstanding concert at MLK. Strino and Vignali play exceptionally well together and recorded and released the album Matilde together in 2024.
Watch Eleonora Strino perform “Matilde” live on YouTube:
Strino spoke occasionally to the audience in attendance during her event. That audience was very supportive with applause as well as laugher as Strino is very engaging as a speaker in addition to a master guitar player.
The concert was scheduled for one hour and fifteen minutes, and due to audience appreciation Strino and Vignali played a few more songs finishing with a great version of “It’s Been a Long, Long Time” by Kitty Kallen much to the delight of the fans in attendance.
Overall, the concert was outstanding, and highlighted the intricate jazz guitar work of Strino, and her ability to play with a great pianist as Vignali. The sky is the limit for Strino and for her work with Vignali and I expect to see more of her playing in the nation’s capital in the near future. I could easily see this duo playing at the Kennedy Center in the future or a special event at the White House. If you are into great jazz guitar work in a concert format this is a show you really should go, see. You will not be disappointed.
Here are some photos of Eleonora Strino performing live at DC’s Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library on April 13, 2026. All pictures copyright and courtesy of James Todd Miller.
