Elaine Kreston

Cellist Elaine Kreston has performed throughout the United States and Europe. Her talents are diverse: an inspired classical cellist most often featured in chamber music settings, she has also performed with such stars as Rod Stewart, Idina Menzel, and Peter Gabriel, and as a soloist on Broadway.

Blending her background of classical music with improvisation, Elaine has performed as soloist at the events of Krishna Das, Adyashanti, and Eckhart Tolle. She is co-creator of RumiCello: a collaboration that beautifully mingles the poetry of Rumi with the sounds of the cello.

Elaine is a founding member of “Amy X Neuburg and the Cello ChiXtet,” a boundary-crossing quartet which has performed to sold-out audiences on the East and West coasts and has been presented by the San Francisco Symphony and Los Angeles Philharmonic.

As a recording artist, Ms. Kreston adds her mellow tones to the albums of singer-songwriters, movie scores, and others. A sampling of her CDs would include the Cello ChiXtet, “D’Arc, Woman on Fire,” TranslucenT, and available in Spring 2014: Elaine’s performance of the first three Bach Solo Cello Suites, recorded at Skywalker Sound.

Elaine has enjoyed the opportunity to study with many of the finest teachers and artists of our time, including William Pleeth (teacher of the incomparable Jacqueline DuPre), Steven Isserlis and Yo-Yo Ma. Her formal studies were with Laurence Lesser at the New England Conservatory of Music, where she earned her Bachelor's Degree, and with Paul Olefsky at UT-Austin for her Master’s Degree.

With a spirited desire to share the wonders of music with future generations, she leads a teaching studio in Berkeley, California, and frequently visits schools, public and private, to perform, teach, and inspire.