ABOUT Elena Bonomo

SESSION TITLE: Musical Theater Drumming: A Creative Approach to Reading

Elena Bonomo is a drummer, percussionist, and music educator. A graduate of Berklee College of Music, she holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Performance.

Elena currently holds the drum chair for Broadway’s Tony award winning hit musical, SIX. Their cast album, SIX: Live on Opening Night was nominated for a Grammy Award for “Best Musical Theater Album.”

Actively involved in both the pop/rock and musical theater scenes, Elena strives to create fluidity across all musical genres. Elena has appeared on Late Night with Seth Meyers as a featured drummer with the 8G Band. She is a member of the Broadway Sinfonietta – an all female and majority women of color orchestra – with whom she regularly records and performs with. Elena has shared the stage with notable artists such as Jordin Sparks, Lea Michele, Norm Lewis, LaChanze, Abby Mueller, Keri René Fuller, Dylan Mulvaney, and Patina Miller, among others. In addition to her US appearances, Elena has performed in the Caribbean, South America, Australia, New Zealand and Europe while working as a bandleader for Holland America Cruise Lines.

In the theater realm, Elena held the drum chair for the 1st National Tour of the musical, Waitress (music and lyrics by Sara Bareilles). She originated the drum book for two Off-Broadway shows including The Hello Girls and A Strange Loop, which won the 2020 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. An active sub in the NYC Theater scene, her credits include: Waitress, Be More Chill, Cagney, For Colored Girls and A Taste of Things to Come.

Elena is a proud endorser of Yamaha Drums, Sabian Cymbals, Vic Firth drum sticks, Remo drumheads, and Low Boy Beaters.