Cellist Elisa Kohanski is a founding member of the sextet, IonSound Project, the new Ensemble in Residence at the University of Pittsburgh. IonSound seeks to add to Pittsburgh's cultural life by programming innovative concerts, commissioning works of new music, collaborating with artists in a variety of disciplines, and exploring the boundaries between concert and popular music.  IonSound has received critical acclaim for their original programming, fresh approach to contemporary music, and commitment to the city of Pittsburgh. 

Ms. Kohanski is principal cellist of the Wheeling Symphony and the Pittsburgh Ballet Orchestra and is a member of several other orchestras, including the Pittsburgh Opera Orchestra, and the Erie Philharmonic. She serves as adjunct faculty at Grove City College along with maintaining a private studio, teaching students ages five to sixty. A native of Warwick, Rhode Island, Elisa is a graduate of the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York, where she studied with Pamela Frame. Elisa received her Masters of Music from Carnegie Mellon University as a student of Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra’s Anne Martindale Williams and David Premo.

Elisa resides in Pittsburgh’s Squirrel Hill neighborhood but travels extensively, having performed in an array of local and international venues, including the Schlossfestspiele in Heidelberg, Germany; the AIMS Opera Festival in Graz, Austria; Royal Albert Hall in London, England; Carnegie Hall in New York City; and in Pittsburgh at the Carnegie Music Hall, Pittsburgh Playhouse, the City Theater and Hazlett Theater. Ms. Kohanski has performed with artists including Olivia Newton John, Phil Keaggy, Garrison Keillor, Robert Shaw, and John Tesh and has toured China and the US with the Mantovani Orchestra.

Elisa was born/raised in Warwick, RI and graduated from Warwick Veterans Memorial High School.