“Elisabeth is clearly a masterful player and intelligent arranger and her interpretations of the old and the new diverge effortlessly into a highly enjoyable compendium of solo music akin to the late great Lyle Ritz.” (Mike Flaherty for Uke Magazine, December 2019)
Bio (short)
Elisabeth Pfeiffer is an internationally active ukulele performer, educator, author, and researcher from Germany. Known for her inventive solo arrangements, original compositions, and engaging workshops, she performs and teaches at festivals throughout Europe and North America. Originally trained as a classical guitarist, she is finishing up her PhD at the University of Surrey, where she developed the Ukulele Technique Compendium, the first systematic taxonomy of ukulele plucking-hand techniques, freely available at https://ukuleletechnique.online. Elisabeth is passionate about expanding the ukulele’s artistic possibilities through performance, teaching, composition, and research.
Bio (expanded)
Elisabeth Pfeiffer is an internationally active ukulele performer, educator, author, and researcher. Originally trained as a classical guitarist at Lawrence University (USA) and the Hochschule für Musik Würzburg (Germany), she discovered the ukulele in 2013 and has since dedicated her work to exploring and expanding the instrument’s artistic possibilities.
As a concert artist, Elisabeth performs original compositions, contemporary works, and inventive solo arrangements of pop and rock classics. Alongside her own music, she actively commissions new repertoire, contributing to the growing body of concert literature for the ukulele.
Her passion for teaching has led to the publication of numerous method books, collections of etudes, arrangements, and educational resources. She regularly gives workshops and masterclasses throughout Europe and North America and taught Ukulele Performance and Ukulele Didactics at the Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK) from 2023 to 2025.
Alongside her artistic career, Elisabeth is finishing up her PhD at the University of Surrey. Her research focuses on contemporary ukulele performance practice, artistic research, and instrumental pedagogy. A major outcome of her doctoral research is the Ukulele Technique Compendium, the first systematic taxonomy of ukulele plucking-hand techniques. Freely accessible at https://ukuleletechnique.online, the Compendium provides an interactive resource documenting techniques, stylistic traditions, and performance practices from around the world.
Whether on stage, in the classroom, or through her research, Elisabeth’s work is driven by a fascination with the ukulele’s remarkable versatility and its continuing evolution as a serious concert instrument.
More Testimonials
“(…) a festival favourite across Europe known for her great workshops, her playing & her ace personality.” (TeamGNUF)
“We can‘t imagine a festival without her. She offers a great variety of workshops for all levels and her concerts are beautiful. She is also a very important promoter of our festival! We are lucky to have you again in 2019, Elisabeth!” (Elisabeth Flik – Austrian Ukulele Festival)
“Elisabeth Pfeiffer is one of the few artists in the European Ukulele scene who prove that women can wow an audience solely with their virtuoso ukulele playing and that they don’t necessarily have to sing, although she can! It’s so much fun seeing her rock the stage by herself and together with friends” (Sabina Saracevic – Berlin Ukulele Festival)
“(…) The intensity and care of her play clearly demonstrates not only her feeling for the music and the instrument, but also her intimate relationship with the songs that she has selected for her arrangements, arrangements that often give the original a more introspective angle, with a delicacy that might not be automatically expected.” (Ben Anderson – Czech Ukulele Festival)
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