About me
From Perfectionism to Surrender
For years, as a principal cellist in Berlin, I managed performance anxiety the only way I knew how: by bracing, controlling, and micromanaging my output. One night, during a particularly scary solo in the opera Tosca, that system became physically impossible for me to sustain. During rehearsal, hypercontrol resulted in one failure after another; I was consumed by shame, but giving up was not an option. I had to find a third way: surrender.
When I surrendered, something else took over that was infinitely bigger and better than my small, controlling mind. Since then, I have helped other people find their own something else, which I call the Inner Artist.
I’m Elena, a Juilliard-trained cellist, published author, and former principal cellist of two major Berlin orchestras who spent two decades teaching at the university level.
I’ve performed under extreme pressure on stages around the world. I’ve watched hundreds of talented, accomplished people get in their own way. And I’ve found a way through that doesn’t require more discipline, better habits, or a personality transplant.
What I learned as a highly sensitive person in high-pressure performance situations is what I want to impart to you:
You can learn to let go. It is a skill that can be practiced and mastered.
I use live, improvised cello music and somatic practices to help you shift out of the thinking mind and into direct experience, where your Inner Artist can actually lead.
How I Got Here
I had a high-powered musical education early in life and went on to study music at The Juilliard School and the Hanns Eisler Music University of Berlin. After serving as principal cellist of the Deutsche Oper Berlin and the Staatskapelle Berlin, I began stepping off the traditional path: playing in my brother’s rock band, founding a trio that blended classical and non-classical music, and eventually following my love of language.
Working alongside Daniel Barenboim, I edited his book Everything is Connected, a collection of his essays on music and life, and later authored An Orchestra Beyond Borders, a book about the musicians of the West–Eastern Divan Orchestra. Writing gave me another way to explore what had always fascinated me: how music touches our humanity, how it carries us through conflict, and how it connects us to one another.
Teaching became another thread, at the Barenboim-Said Academy in Seville, the Musikhochschule Stuttgart, and eventually the Music University of Freiburg, where I guided the next generation of musicians. I was a member of the Hegel Quartet for ten years and still continue to perform regularly alongside mentoring programs and engagements.
What I Do Now
I guide clients through the creative process, even when they don't believe they are creative.
The heart of my work is what I call Musical Alchemy, the weaving together of multiple disciplines: energy readings, improvised intuitive music, guided deep listening, and my training as a certified Martha Beck Wayfinder coach. In these sessions and events, I help people move through stuckness to return to their creative nature.
Whether through writing or music, my path has always been about the same thing: making space for people to grow and do their best work.
I live in a small town in the Austrian Alps, where I can continue to learn from and communicate with Mother Earth.
