Agustín Nazzetta

Argentine guitarist Agustín Nazzetta (b. 1990) moves between the classical tradition and the restless edge of contemporary music. Equally at home on acoustic and electric guitar, he brings to the stage a practice rooted in the core repertoire but drawn toward new sonic territories — from composed works with electronics to pieces that push the instrument beyond its conventional boundaries. Based in Basel, Switzerland, he performs as a soloist and chamber musician across Europe and beyond.

Nazzetta studied guitar at the Universidad Nacional de Artes in Buenos Aires (Bachelor, summa cum laude), the Universität Mozarteum Salzburg, and the Musik-Akademie Basel, where he completed a Master in Musical Performance and a Master in Music Education under Pablo Márquez, followed by postgraduate studies with Paul Galbraith. His work in contemporary music was shaped by a Minor in Zeitgenössische Musik with trombonist and composer Mike Svoboda, and later deepened through participation in the Darmstädter Ferienkurse.

A prolific competitor in his early career, Nazzetta earned first prizes at the Incontri Chitarristi di Gargnano (Italy), the Guitar Festival Rust (Austria), and the Savarez-Corelli Chamber Music Competition (Salzburg), alongside top placements at the Festival International de Guitare de Paris, the International Guitar Festival Brno, and the Andrés Segovia International Competition in Linares.

His solo work spans from Renaissance lute music to newly commissioned pieces at the frontier of what the guitar can do. He has performed at the Musikverein Wien as a Eurostrings Artist, at the Stadtcasino Basel, and at Theater Freiburg, and has given recitals and masterclasses at festivals in Hungary, Finland, and Argentina.

Nazzetta is a founding member of HOAX Quartet, a four-guitar ensemble dedicated to 21st-century music. The quartet has toured extensively throughout Switzerland — including the 2026 RELIC tour across Basel, Bern, Biel, Luzern, and Zürich — and has performed at venues such as BRUX Freies Theater in Innsbruck. He is also one half of guitARS_lab, a contemporary guitar duo with Marius Schnurr exploring the possibilities of electric and acoustic guitar; their next project is the world premiere of Christian Dimpker's Drei Lieder in Berlin (August 2026). With trombonist Adrián Albaladejo Díaz he formed Supernovæ, a duo for electric guitar and trombone that has performed at venues including Unerhörte Musik in Berlin. Together with violinist Lisa Rieder, he performs Searching for Astor, an all-Piazzolla programme that has been presented at Palazzo Ducale in Urbino and at mimiko concerts in Basel.

His recordings reflect the same dual commitment: Luciano Berio's Sequenza XI, Helmut Lachenmann's Salut für Caudwell (with guitARS_lab), and Mario Davidovsky's Synchronisms No. 10 for guitar and electronics sit alongside works for electric guitar by Santiago Quintans, Santiago Diez-Fischer, and Tobias Krebs.

Nazzetta currently teaches guitar and electric guitar at the Musikschule Rheinfelden, where he also directs the Sound eXperiment ensemble.