Elise Kermani

Elise Kermani is a sound media artist and filmmaker and the Artistic Director of MiShinnah Productions, a flagship company focusing on collaborative, genre-bending performance and film based in New York City. She teaches media art at State University of New York/Empire State College and has a PhD in Media Philosophy from the European Graduate School in Saas Fee, Switzerland. She received a Masters in Interdisciplinary Art from Columbia College Chicago and a Bachelors in Music Composition from DePauw University. Elise grew up in Michigan City and in her sophomore year of high school she played piano accompaniment for the Dunes’ production of “My Fair Lady” and as an eighth grader she was chosen to paint the mural of Titian’s painting for Nora McAlvay’s play “Titian”. Recently, she worked in Development at Lubeznik Center for the Arts, and was on the board of the League of Women Voters, where she maintained the LWV vote411.org web site.

Her administrative experience includes Executive Producer of the Electronic Arts Performance Series at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, NY, and web manager of Franklin Furnace in NYC. She was creator and curator for the city-wide SonicWorks music festival in Houston, TX and the World Peace through New Music Festival in Wilmette, IL. Elise moved to Michigan City in 2018 and currently lives in Long Beach, IN with her husband, Sirus.