BIO
Leif Haley (b. 2000) is a composer, percussionist, and pianist currently pursuing his PhD at Rutgers University with Scott Ordway. Prior to this, he studied with Kenneth Hesketh at the Royal College of Music, London, where he received his Masters of Music with distinction, and earlier with Daniel Thomas Davis (composition) and Joel Smales (percussion) at Binghamton University, where he graduated with highest honors in music for the creation and performance of his evening-length chamber opera, Prunella, based on the eponymous fairytale. He has also studied with Wally Gunn (composition), Monteith McCollum (sound and performance), and Gayle Hinsdill (piano).
Leif has won numerous awards for his work, including the Binghamton University Provost’s Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Research, the Binghamton University Summer Scholars and Artists Fellowship, and the NYSSMA Student Electronic Compositions Showcase. His compositions have been performed by professional ensembles including the Explore Ensemble, Momenta Quartet, HUB New Music, Fifth House Ensemble, YARN/WIRE, and New Thread Quartet, as well as the Binghamton University Percussion Ensemble and the Royal College of Music’s percussion quartet, PERC’M. He has also enjoyed cross-disciplinary collaborations in the fields of dance (including with the English National Ballet School and Rambert School), visual arts, animation, computer science, and academia. Recordings of some works may be found on his website and YouTube page.
In addition to composition, Leif has been an active performer in wind ensembles, orchestras, percussion ensemble, steel drum band, and numerous ad hoc chamber ensembles, as well as a solo performer in piano, percussion, and live electronics. For four years he was a member and composer in Explorchestra, Binghamton’s student-run and student-composed orchestra, and in London he participated in several of RCM Spark’s music programs for young people.
Leif enjoys both classical and electronic music, with a particular interest in rhythm and extramusical influence, and is always looking for new ways to bow everything from cowbells to music stands.
Outside of music, Leif enjoys martial arts, hiking, reading and writing, mythology and fairytales, philosophy, linguistics, and psychology. He has a 4th degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do and is 5th Kyu in AAA-style Aikido. He worked in the Binghamton University Learning and Representation in Cognition laboratory under Kenneth Kurtz for two years, studying category learning and the use of relational encoding as a mechanism for creatively solving insight problems. He also researches sensation and perception in dreams, with two publications in the International Journal of Dream Research. He is an enthusiastic reader and writer of both prose and poetry.
