We recently connected with Cellista and have shared our conversation below.

Cellista, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. It’s always helpful to hear about times when someone’s had to take a risk – how did they think through the decision, why did they take the risk, and what ended up happening. We’d love to hear about a risk you’ve taken.

The last major gig I performed was at the Lincoln Center. I, in partnership with the Howard Zinn Education Committee, was brought on to perform a composition while students read excerpts from Zinn’s works. As a classical cellist, it was a dream to perform at this legendary place. However, I felt particularly proud to be there, performing my own music, accompanying students while they read leftist literature.

I did it my way.

The path there felt terrifying. From realizing I didn’t belong nor did I want to belong to the formal classical world. To dropping out of an MM program at SF State that wasn’t working for me, I was a simple misfit who, truth be told, loved being a misfit.
Now I had played a gig that my colleagues would have died to perform.

I realize it was the act of risking that landed me the absurd but fulfilling career I have. In listening to my heart, practicing some self awareness, and working diligently to present an authentic version of myself, I risked everything.
I risked the scrutiny and dismissal of my colleagues. I risked forfeiting what was expected of a cellist of my level so I could create avant-garde responses to the world around me.

And truly, a cellist of my level? Honestly, what more could I have gotten other than endless wedding gigs and a few community orchestra projects?

In finding myself and finding my voice, I found happiness. I found new outlets for community building.

Now, from the steps of the Lincoln Center, I reach my hands up to the static trapeze. A new place to perch, to hear and listen to the stories of those around me, to see the world; and perhaps on occasion to be seen, as well.

I now find myself working in the world of circus arts with the static trapeze as my apparatus of choice. I am finding ways to bring my cello with me as I learn to fly. It’s hard. It’s terrifying. It’s frustrating.

I feel compelled by this apparatus. The malleability of it and its potential for richer storytelling. It could be anything, a window, a door, a mirror, a swing, a place to land.

As I begin working on my newest stage poem “Elegie” for static trapeze, cello, and silent film, I am learning new ways of seeing and hearing. I risk falling, frustration, fear, trepidation, and failure in this project.

And if I can find myself, yet again, within my art and the parameters of rope and bar, it’s worth risking everything simply to do it my way.

Cellista, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I arrived in this career roughly in 2014 when I went on tour as a backing cellist with 90s icon Tanya Donelly. That same year, I presented my first multimedia work entitled “Bird in a Cage” in collaboration with the visual artist Tulio Flores in San Jose, CA. I was in graduate school for cello performance at SF State at the time, and struggling to keep up with the demands of the classical world.
I began taking more and more work as a session cellist in the Bay and quickly found myself working full time in the industry. I eventually dropped out of my MM program and began my masters in business at Berklee College of Music.

My work has always been multimedia based. I love working with artists across disciplines and if you inspect my body of work you’ll see that reflected. I also am dedicated to creating platforms for marginalized voices to be heard and seen and above all, I am an advocate for affordable housing for all. I currently own an artist residency in Longmont, CO called House of Cellista which subsidizes the rent of its working artist tenants in exchange for the creation of community-based arts presentations.

I am currently studying the static trapeze and incorporating it and circus arts into my own stage poems with the cello and my compositions.

How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?

It’s simple:

Affordable housing for all.

Housing is a human right. It is fundamental to the existence of any kind of arts ecosystem.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

I built an audience be being really transparent and realizing that a lot of the things artists did not share online, were actually fascinating to their audience. I know that people really do want to know what my day-to-day is like on tour. Audiences are curious about the behind-the-scenes of a TV/Film shoot and what the catering was like on set.

I also think they want to know the ups and downs of putting on a production or even what it’s like to learn a new move on trapeze, whether I fall or not!

Social media is a pain. I don’t like most of it, but it provides an opportunity to document your life! It doesn’t have to be all aspects; the beauty is that you create it! It’s your curation.

Contact Info:

• Website: cellista.net
• Instagram: instagram.com/xcellistax
• Facebook: facebook.com/cellista.music
• Twitter: twitter.com/xcellistax
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@xcellistax/videos

Image Credits
All photos taken by Elsie Smith at NECCA 2023