A poet of the guitar according to The Washington Post, Elena Papandreou studied with Evangelos Boudounis and Oscar Ghiglia. She won 1st Prize in the Maria Callas, Gargnano and Alessandria competitions, as well as 2nd Prize and the NAXOS Prize in the Guitar Foundation of America Competition. In 1992 she was honoured by the Academy of Athens with the Spyros Motsenigos”Prize.

Papandreou has performed in 40 countries in venues such as Carnegie Recital Hall, Vienna Musikverein, Tchaikovsky Concert Hall, Queen Elisabeth Hall, Kölner Philharmonie and Birmingham Symphony Hall. She has collaborated with outstanding musicians, like Oscar Ghiglia, Alirio Diaz, Roland Dyens, Nikita Koshkin, Leonidas Kavakos, among others. She has played as a soloist with orchestras in Greece, Italy, Romania, Turkey, Mexico and Singapore with conductors Daniele Gatti, Lan Shui, Paul Chiang, among others.

Among composers who have dedicated works to her are Leo Brouwer, Roland Dyens and Nikita Koshkin. Elena Papandreou is currently  Professor at  the University of Macedonia in Thessaloniki, Greece.