Francesca Naibo, guitarist from Vittorio Veneto (Italy) based in Milan, moves fluently across all the different conjugations of the guitar, from the classic, the electric, to the fretless and the pedal steel. Involved in the research for solo performance, she is focused on exploring sound in the divergent yet sonically similar fields of free improvisation, contemporary music and classical repertoire. She’s particularly interested in using both the acoustic and the electric nature of her instrument, adventuring from roaring drones till microscopic vibrations.

She studied in Venice, Milan, Bern and Basel graduating in classical guitar and free improvisation, and built collaborations with many European musicians, especially over Central and Northern Europe. She worked with important composers like Helmut Lachenmann and George Lewis and she realized the transcription of the “Exercises in Futility” by and in collaboration with Marc Ribot and published the article “Marc Ribot’s Exercises in Futility” (Proceedings of the 21st Century Guitar Conference 2019 & 2021, University of Denver) last June.

She lectured about improvisation and guitar at the “2nd Dublin International Guitar Symposium 2019: Back to the future”and at the “21st Century Guitar Conference 2021: Unconventional approaches”.

In 2020 her first solo album “Namatoulee” was released by Aut Records. It was included in the “Albums of the year” list by the program “Late Junction” on BBC Radio 3. It was defined “masterful” by Il Giornale della Musica and “a postcard from the beyond, past the boundaries most guitarists usually accept” by A Jazz Noise.

Last September a piece by Francesca Naibo was included in the prestigious “I never metaguitar 6”, a selection among the best contemporary guitarists curated by Elliott Sharp for Klanggalerie.
Her second solo album “So much time” was released last November by Ramble Records. It’s a work about time that arrived after a long reflection on the past. It was created with digital recordings and the use of some old audiotapes with the artist’s voice as a child. There is therefore a dialogue between three voices: the voice as a child, the voice as an adult and the guitar. They explore different type of time, weaving impossible connections and stratifications dense of memories. “So much time” was defined “überraschend, erstaunlich, mutig, exzellent” (Jazz Podium) and “a cerebral and radical work” (Rockerilla Italy).

She’s an active member of Milan Collettivo “Conserere” since 2020 and in 2023 she was included in Fall Equinox 2023 Cohort 6 of Mutual Mentorship for Musicians.

Besides her artistic activity, Francesca is a passionate teacher at the middle school “R. Franceschi” in Milan.