Valerio Menon: Artisan Luthier and Handpan Player

Have you recently heard about Valerio Menon, a former handpan player who now crafts this percussion instrument entirely by hand? What has this artist’s career looked like? Is he still active in the world of this flying saucer-shaped instrument?

Intrigued by older videos Valerio Menon posted three years ago, I started digging into the journey of this percussionist who retrained as a luthier to keep living his passion. That’s how I’m able to share a complete portrait of Valerio Menon.

In this article, you will discover:

• How this musician got started in the handpan world
• His discography
• How he retrained as a luthier
• The various musical projects he continues to participate in

By the end, you’ll have a much clearer view of Valerio Menon’s career, which will undoubtedly help you feel more connected to his work.

Now, let’s start with the biography of this Italian percussionist.

Who is Valerio Menon, the handpan player and maker?

Valerio Menon is an Italian musician specialising in the handpan, based in Thun, Switzerland. From childhood, he’s been passionate about music and instruments. But it wasn’t until 2012 that he first encountered the handpan—an experience that would profoundly shape his professional life. Between 2012 and 2015, he pursued an intensive career as a handpan player, performing more than 200 concerts across 12 countries. Over roughly three years, Valerio built a strong reputation among handpan enthusiasts through extensive touring and the recordings he released. He travelled across Europe (and beyond), performing at festivals and intimate venues and sharing the stage with other key figures in the handpan scene.

Between 2013 and 2015, Valerio Menon released three albums. His first, “Conversations with Strangers (EP, 2013),” recorded live in Zurich, Switzerland, laid the groundwork for what he describes as his musical universe. The following year, he collaborated with guitarist Nicola Frecci on the EP “WiedikonLAB” (2014), forming a duo that beautifully blended the two instruments. In 2015, he released “Slow Motion Replay,” a more accomplished album distributed in the United States via the now-defunct label AllAgainstOne Records. On this record, Valerio expanded his sound by weaving percussion, didgeridoo, vocals, and synthesisers into the handpan’s rich tones—an entirely new direction for him. Praised by the community, these recordings helped establish him as one of the handpan scene’s most promising composers in the mid-2010s. You can watch his composition “Insert Coin,” which has surpassed 100,000 views on YouTube, in the video below:

However, despite his promising start as a handpan player, Valerio Menon began showing signs of burnout and felt the pull to change direction. In the summer of 2015, while touring in France, he grew tired of the constant travel required to keep performing. As a result, he started considering a break. That’s when his tour manager, Ore Scaffidi, offered to teach him the art of making these instruments. Valerio accepted the challenge: “He told me that if I wanted, he could teach me to make instruments… I said yes and, two months later, I sold my first instrument. That ‘break’ has been going on for almost 10 years… I never performed another concert and, since October 2015, instrument making has become my main job.” In a remarkably short time, he moved from the stage to the workshop. Starting in October 2015, Valerio Menon devoted himself exclusively to building and tuning handpans, putting his musical sensitivity at the service of lutherie.

What is the reputation of this luthier who creates handpans?

As a handpan maker, Valerio Menon quickly gained international recognition. In Thun, Switzerland, he founded “Valerio Menon Instruments,” which is, in fact, his personal workshop dedicated to custom building and tuning handpans. Thanks to his reputation as an international performer, he was soon sought out by major names in the scene. Over the years, he has crafted handpans for leading artists such as French multi-instrumentalist Jérémy Nattagh. The group Hang Massive, an iconic name in the handpan world, recorded their album “Luminous Emptiness” using several instruments made by Valerio Menon. He has also tuned instruments from other makers owned by virtuosos such as Daniel Waples, Laurent Sureau, Mumi, Patrizio Castrovinci, Davide Friello, and Bruno Bieri. However, in 2024, he announced on Facebook that he would no longer be taking new orders, as his backlog had grown to more than an 18-month wait.

What other musical projects does this artist and instrument maker have?

In July 2022, Valerio Menon co-founded the Swiss Handpan Festival with his friend Andreas H. As the name suggests, the festival takes place in Switzerland, more specifically in the town of Wetzikon near Zurich. It brings together handpan players from all over the world in a warm, friendly atmosphere. Valerio Menon is especially involved in artist programming, as well as part of the technical side of the event. In just a few years, it has become an unmissable gathering for many European percussionists. At the same time, Valerio Menon also runs the music workshop at the Aarhus Foundation in Gümligen (Bern), where he puts music at the service of a social cause by working with people with disabilities.

In November 2024, Valerio Menon founded his own music label, which he named “shoulder Tone Records.” The label’s ambition is to release only compositions by handpan players. It was created through a collaboration with producer Alfredo “K” Cappello, a professional with more than 30 years of experience in music production. Valerio Menon’s main motivation is to provide a professional structure for artists who want to share their work internationally and, as a result, spotlight new talent in the handpan scene. “I launched shoulder Tone Records because the handpan scene was growing in popularity, but it remained underrepresented in the record industry. I wanted to give back what this scene has given me over the past 13 years by creating something useful for everyone,” Valerio Menon explains. He also secured distribution for the label’s releases through The Orchard, a division of Sony Music.

Treat yourself to a magnificent handpan to compose wonderful pieces

Valerio Menon has evolved from a virtuoso handpan musician to an instrument maker and influential mentor in the community. His unusual path—from European stages to fabrication workshops, festival organisation, and the creation of a label—shows a total passion for this UFO-shaped instrument. Now, after reading this article, you certainly know a lot more about Valerio Menon’s career.

Although Valerio Menon left his native Italy to move to Switzerland, not all handpan players follow the same path. For instance, the highly regarded Davide Friello has remained rooted in his native Italy, so you can find one of the world’s best handpan players right in Tuscany.