Band Lief
As a multi-instrumentalist Lief Ellis has performed and recorded with a diverse group of ensembles. As a bassist Lief has performed with the Shenandoah Conservatory Symphony and Chamber Orchestras, the Blacksburg Community Orchestra, rock bands Kludge and Fell On Within. Lief also performed, on guitar and keyboards, with Brave and Grey Division Blue. He has recorded with Kludge, Fell On Within, and Arise From Thorns.
Lief holds a Bachelor's degree in Music Composition from Radford University, a Master's degree in Music Composition from The Hartt School and is currently working towards an Artist's Diploma from the Hartt School. Lief has been awarded a Meet the Composer Grant for his guitar works performed at the American Songfest in Woodstock, NY in 2004 and has been awarded several ASCAP Plus Awards. In 2001 he was awarded a prize in the Arnold Salop Memorial Composition Competition for his septet Persistence. In 2005 Lief was awarded an honorable mention in the International Society of Bassists Composition Competition for his quintet The Rings of Yggdrasill.
Lief currently teaches music theory and music history at the Greater Hartford Academy of the Arts. In the past he has worked at various music positions; from managing the Concert Ensemble and New Horizons Ensemble for the Hartt School's community division to working as a freelance music engraver for established Connecticut composers, such as David Macbride. Lief also instructs a number of private students in composition, theory and guitar.