Leif has held the second trumpet chair with the Santa Fe Symphony, Opera SouthWest and Albuquerque Ballet, and has played principal trumpet with Opera West and the Santa Fe Chamber Orchestra. He performs regularly with the Tucson Symphony Orchestra and the San Juan Symphony, and has appeared with the Colorado Symphony, Santa Fe Opera and Arizona Opera. He has performed with the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival since 2021, including as a soloist.

Since 2022 he has hosted, written and arranged the Festival’s Music in Our Schools tours, reaching 40,000 students across more than 60 concerts. He hosts Carnegie Hall’s Link Up program with the Symphony of the Southwest, and directs the brass quintet residency at Phoenix Youth Symphony Orchestras.

Leif also knows the work offstage. He is Principal Orchestra Librarian at Arizona State University and Front of House Manager for the Heifetz International Music Institute. He has served as Production Manager for the New Mexico Philharmonic, Development Officer for KHFM Classical Public Radio, and Stage Manager for the Olga Kern International Piano Competition. Running rehearsals, budgets, donors and stages is how he learned what every presenter is up against.

He is a founding member of the A5 Brass Quintet and principal trumpet of the Vancouver Brass Collective, where he chaired the commissioning program that led to the album Acoustic Alloy (2022).

Leif is completing a Doctor of Musical Arts at Arizona State University with Joe Burgstaller. He holds a Master of Music from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music and a B.A. from Berry College.