Paolo Cherici had his education at the Milan Conservatory, where he got his diploma as a guitarist with top marks and "cum laude" under the teaching of the Maestro Ruggero Chiesa. Mainly interested in ancient music, he devoted himself to lute playing, attending the courses held by Eugen M. Dombois and Hopkinson Smith at the Schola Cantorum in Basel.

    He performs in concerts in both in Italy and abroad (Europe, USA, Canada, Central America, Brazil, Japan) both as a soloist and in ensembles, taking part in important ancient music festivals (S. Maurizio-Milano, Santa Cecilia-Roma, San Marco-Venezia, Autunno Musicale di Como, Ravenna Festival, Paris, Versailles, Montpellier, Amiens, Bruges, Vienna, Salisburgo, Innsbruck, Graz, Lugano, Locarno, Montreux etc.).

    He has to his credit more than 70 records with various ensembles, his repertory varying from the Renaissance to Baroque. His solo records and in a duo with the soprano Claudine Ansermet are mainly significant, having obtained remarkable acknowledgements from the international critique. The record Soupirs Meslés d' Amour, airs de cours by Pierre Guédron, has obtained the prestigious prize Diapason d'Or du Siécle.

   He has cooperated with both symphonic and opera houses such as the Teatro la Scala in Milan, Teatro Regio in Turin, Teatro Verdi in Trieste, Teatro Massimo in Palermo, Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Academia Mintis regalis, I Barocchisti di Lugano, L'Accademia Bizantina, Staatstheater of Dresden, the Megaron in Athens.

   He has edited several publications, among which the Opera Omnia for lute by Bach, the Antologia delle intavolature di Ottaviano Petrucci, the Concertini per camera a Violino, Violoncello o Tiorba op. I by Francesco Manfredini, the Duetti liutistici del Rinascimento italiano e inglese.

   He regularly runs advanced courses of lute playing and technique. He teaches at Milan Conservatory.