Elif Sanchez's musical journey started in her hometown Istanbul, she got accepted to Istanbul University State Conservatory. She continued middle school and high school education, majoring in classical performance on oboe and English horn. In 2013, She was accepted to Berklee College of Music with a scholarship, and studied jazz oboe and vocal, majoring in performance, and Music Business as a minor. She graduated from Berklee, winning the Bill Pierce Award and the Mediterranean Music Institute Award in 2017.

Afterward, she moved to New York to continue performing with her project at concert halls such as Drom NYC, Rockwood Music Hall, and The Well Brooklyn. She caught the attention of 14 Grammy award winner Javier Límon with her group "Mediant Collective" that she founded in 2015 and was invited to the "Refuge of Sound" project as a guest artist.

Sanchez uniquely interpreted her modern arrangements of Turkish and Azerbaijani folk songs including, “Ay Oğlan Yiğit Misin,” “Almanı Attım Xarala,” and “Bağlamam Perde Perde” alongside a well-known Spanish song “Contigo Aprendí” by Armando Manzanero.