“In a region known for disrupting the status quo, Cellista is celebrating the legacy of the original disruptors.”

—Andrew Gilbert, San Jose Mercury News

Cellista

Cellist • Aerialist • Composer • Performer

Las Vegas, NV

Cellista is a Las Vegas–based aerial cellist and composer, widely recognized as the first artist to develop a sustained touring practice of performing original works for cello in the air on static trapeze and other aerial apparatus.

Her narrative multimedia “stage poems” merge surrealism, political inquiry, and genre-defying performance. She toured her self-produced and directed one-woman aerial cello work Élégie nationally and in the UK from 2023–24 to critical acclaim. In 2021, she premiered original compositions at Lincoln Center in collaboration with the New York Philharmonic and the Howard Zinn Education Committee.

Her interdisciplinary exhibition The End of Time, created alongside visual artist Barron Storey, and her immersive stage poem Pariah further established her as a boundary-crossing voice in contemporary performance.

She performed in a custom production at the Mayfair Supper Club at the Bellagio. Cellista has toured internationally, contributed music to film and television, and appeared on projects including Will & Grace and Better Things. A former chapter governor of the Recording Academy and San Jose arts commissioner, she holds a master’s degree from Berklee College of Music and is the founding artistic director of House of Cellista, a micro-arts center supporting artists and affordable housing initiatives.

Featured Stage Poem

Élégie

A stage poem about serenity

A one-hour stage poem starring Cellista as Élégie, a blackbird who shape shifts into human form and back. 

Watching Cellista find new relationships with the instrument she has already spent so much time with has been inspiring to me as a director. It takes patience and courage to change patterns we are used to performing with. Cellista is brave enough to connect elements that you would not expect to be seen together.
— Joel Baker, director.
Cellista is a unique artist. She pools her diverse talents together to combine into a captivating whole. From music to circus to visual art and the crafted word, Élégie is a full package experience, a feast for the audience.
— Elsie Smith, founder of NECCA, Nimble Arts and Gemini Trapeze
She gave me quotes to put around the emptiness. She gave me context. And subtext. And reflex-tions of what has now filled the void.
— Gary Singh, journalist and poet