Peter Ellefson

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Peter Ellefson will join the faculty of Indiana University in August, 2002. He goes to Bloomington from Seattle where he has been a member of the Seattle Symphony since 1992. During his decade in Seattle, he has made dozens of recordings with the orchestra, playing trombone, euphonium and bass trumpet. One of the accomplishments of which he is most proud is having performed as principal trombone on six complete cycles of Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen for Seattle Opera. Mr. Ellefson has participated in hundreds of recording sessions for motion pictures, IMAX, television and video games, working with such composers as Elmer Bernstein, James Newton Howard, Basil Poledouris and Bill Conti. He has also backed entertainers as diverse as Burt Bacharach, Frank Sinatra Jr., Ray Charles, James Taylor, Manhattan Transfer and Yes.

Over the past 20 years, Mr. Ellefson has been fortunate to have studied with many of the finest low brass teachers including Joseph Alessi, Frank Crisafulli, Edward Kleinhammer, Jay Friedman, Arnold Jacobs Mark Lawrence and M. Dee Stewart. His initial study was with Warren Baker at Linfield College, in McMinnville, Oregon, from which Mr. Ellefson graduated cum laude in 1984. Mr. Ellefson holds a Master of Music degree from Northwestern University.

Mr. Ellefson has a keen interest in chamber music and solo repertoire and has given concerto performances of works by such composers as Bloch, Bourgeois, Dorsey, Grondahl, Guilmant, Larsson, Pryor, Pugh, Serocki, Tomasi, Rimsky-Korsakov. He has extensive knowledge in the repertoire of both orchestral and chamber music and is also well acquainted with the commercial and jazz idioms.

Peter Ellefson has played Greg Black mouthpieces exclusively since 1998.