A Philadelphia native, Elena Kauffman maintains an active career as a performing and teaching artist. She is the cellist and manager of Blue Line Quartet, and she performs frequently with Fairmount String Quartet, Elysium String Quartet, and many other chamber ensembles in the Philadelphia area. She is the principal cellist and personnel manager of the Wayne Oratorio Society and Haverford-Bryn Mawr Chorale Orchestra, and she has performed with the Philadelphia Ballet Orchestra, Reading Symphony, Bay Atlantic Symphony, and West Jersey Chamber Orchestra.

Praised for her “customary acuity and beauty” (Broad Street Review), Elena has a passion for historical string instruments, and she performs regularly on baroque cello and viola da gamba. She has appeared on tour with Venice Baroque Orchestra, and she was the viola da gamba soloist in New York City Opera’s production of Los Elementos by Antonio Literes. She has participated in the American Bach Soloists Academy in San Francisco, the International Masterclasses Festival in Gaming, Austria, and Juilliard at Piccola Accademia in Montisi, Italy. Elena is a founding member of Filament, and has appeared as a guest with Tempesta di Mare, The Thirteen Chamber Choir Baroque Orchestra, Bach Collegium Philadelphia, Gamut Bach Ensemble, Crescendo Period Instrument Orchestra, Ex Umbris, and Elm City Consort. She has studied with Sarah Cunningham, Phoebe Carrai, and has performed in masterclass for Thomas Fritzsch and Paolo Pandolfo.

A dedicated educator, Elena maintains a private studio and is the Operations Director of The Common Place Orchestra in Southwest Philadelphia.

Elena is a graduate of Temple University, where she studied with Jeffrey Solow.