East Studio Building, JS432
Education
- M.M., Master of Music, Northwestern University, 1985
- B.A., Bachelor of Arts, Linfield College, 1984
Biography
Trombonist Peter Ellefson grew up in southern Oregon and now holds the rank of Professor of Music at Indiana University's Jacobs School of Music. He has performed, recorded and toured internationally with the Chicago Symphony and the New York Philharmonic. He has also performed with the Boston, Cincinnati, Indianapolis, Milwaukee and Oregon Symphonies, among many others. From 1992-2002, he was a member of the Seattle Symphony Orchestra, where he made dozens of recordings, playing trombone, euphonium and bass trumpet. Prof. Ellefson served as principal trombone for many cycles of Seattle Opera's renowned productions of Richard Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen. Also during his time in Seattle, he recorded music for over 100 motion picture, IMAX, TV and video game soundtracks, working with such composers as Elmer Bernstein, Bill Conti, Michael Giacchino, James Newton Howard, Michael Kamen and Basil Poledouris. He has also backed entertainers as diverse as Linda Ronstadt (as lead trombone in the Nelson Riddle Orchestra), Burt Bacharach, Frank Sinatra Jr., Ray Charles, James Taylor, Manhattan Transfer, and YES.
Prof. Ellefson has given concerto performances of works by Bloch, Bourgeois, Deemer, Dorsey, Grøndahl, Guilmant, Kazik, Larsson, Mackey, Maslanka, Pryor, Pugh, Rimsky-Korsakov, Rouse, Serocki and Tomasi. Additionally, composers Anthony Barfield, James Stephenson and Kevin Walczyk have written concertos for him. Chamber music credits include the Canadian Brass, Chicago Chamber Musicians, Chicago Symphony Orchestra Brass, Chicago Trombone Consort, Chicago Brass Quintet, Fulcrum Point New Music Project, New York Philharmonic Brass Quintet, Proteus 7 and the newly formed trombone quartet "4." Prof. Ellefson has taught at Northwestern University, Roosevelt University, the University of Costa Rica and the Music Academy of the West. He is a contributing author to "The Brass Player's Cookbook" and has had articles published in the Journal of the International Trombone Association. His solo CD, "Pura Vida" was released in 2010 and his Internet home can be found at www.peterellefson.com.