Maria Elisa Tozzi carried out her music studies at the ”Conservatorio di Santa Cecilia” in Rome where she got a full-grade diploma as pianist under the tutorship of Rina Rossi. She later continued to study with Renata Borgatti and Carlo Zecchi, whose assistant she became during his courses in Rome in 1980-1983. She also studied composition with Alfredo De Ninno and chamber music with Guido Agosti and Enrico Mainardi. She has given many recitals in famous concert halls in 53 countries all over the world and has been engaged in chamber music playing with famous musicians such as Franco Barbieri, Fulvio Montanaro, Nikolaij Ikonomov, Giuseppe Selmi, Radu Aldulescu, Irene Oliver and the “Quartetto Ceciliano”.Some of her most important concerts as soloist are those with the RAI Orchestras of Rome, Milan and Naples, where she played a first ever performance of the II Tschaikovskij concert (conducted by Armando La Rosa Parodi), the first performance in Italy of the Concert in G minor by Moscheles, (with Franco Caracciolo as conductor), and Hayden’s concert in D major (conducted by Pietro Argento). With the “Wiener Kammerorchester” conducted by Carlo Zecchi she was the specialized interpretor of Mozart’s and Haydn’s pianoconcerts. She interpreted as well Prokoffiev’s concerto no.3 with the orchestra of the Teatro Colon, conductor Jorg Fontenla, as “ Les Noces” by Stravinsky, conducted by Pierre Boulez in Rome. Her special interest in modern music inspired composers such as (among the others) Franco Mannino, Virgilio Mortari, Mario Zafred and Helmut Laberer to dedicate compositions to her: Laberer’s “Klangbilder” was first performed in 1975 in Palermo with the orchestra of the Teatro Massimo and in Munich with the Symphony Orchestra of the Bayrischer Rundfunk, conducted by Rudolf Albert.From 1968 she started her teaching career at the Conservatorio "Vincenzo Bellini" of Palermo and continued for more than 20 years at the “ Conservatorio S. Cecilia” in Rome until 1994.Beeing editor and director of “Il Mondo della Musica" since 1982,founder and organizer of concert seasons and a music school of the Vatican, the International Competition "Premio Carlo Zecchi” with awards for Pianoforte playing, Conductors and Chamber Music show her deep involvement in helping young talents to start their career. She has recorded music for RCA, TELA, CAM, BMG ARIOLA, NUOVA FONIT CETRA, and BMG RICORDI. Among the most important awards and prizes she received "Il Sagittario d'oro"(1978), the "Premio della Popolarità"(1979),"La Velca d'oro" (1980), "Premio Adelaide Ristori" (1985), "Premio Foyer des Artistes" (1996) and the “Premio Ignazio Silone” (2003) testifying her creative artistic career as well as her prolific organizing capacities.