Elena Miller is a professional storyteller, folksinger, and arts educator with a long and distinguished career in performance, interpretation, and community storytelling. She is the founder and owner of S.A.Y. (Storytelling Alliance for YOU), an organization dedicated to bringing stories to audiences of all ages.
Elena has performed at festivals throughout the eastern United States and has appeared as an actress at the Academy Theatre in Atlanta, as well as in a cameo role in Peter Sellers’ film Being There. Her work has taken her internationally, including folk programs at the Karl Zeiss Schools in Berlin, and nationally through appearances on the Nashville Network and with the National Park Service. She has served as an interpreter at iconic sites such as the St. Louis Arch during the Park Service’s 100th Anniversary Celebration, the Carl Sandburg Home, and the Grand Canyon.
Her excellence in performance and interpretation has been widely recognized. She received the National First Place Award (1982) for Best Performing Arts Program in Parks, along with three Regional Interpretive Excellence Awards. Elena also founded the Carl Sandburg Annual Folk Music and Storytelling Festival and has been featured twice in Southern Living magazine.
Elena holds a master’s degree in Theatre and English from UNC, along with graduate teaching credentials. She is a North Carolina Arts Council Artist in Schools, sharing folklore, fables, traditional tales, and personal stories with both children and adults. In her performances, she often accompanies herself on guitar, autoharp, and dulcimer, and she is a Chautauqua presenter known for blending music and storytelling.
She is an active member of the Asheville Storytelling Circle, Stories on Asheville’s Front Porch, the North Carolina Storytelling Guild, and the Arts Council of Henderson County.
Contact:
Phone: 828-243-4891 or 828-684-0481 (voice calls only)
Email: |
- Age Groups: Adult Audiences; Family Audiences; Preschool; Senior Adults; Upper Elementary;
- Story Types: Character Education; Family / Personal; Folk Tales / Fairy Tales/ Fables / Tall Tales; Ghost/ Scary; Healing/ Therapy; History; Holidays; Literary; Myths; Original; With Music; With Puppets / Props; With Song;
- Workshops: Business / Corporate; Educators; Librarians; Organizations; Students;