Leah Coloff is described by The New York Times as “a combination of artful angularity and a rock-inflected assertiveness.” Raised in the Pacific Northwest, her classical roots collide with 70’s rock and a pioneer spirit creating her self-identified style, CLUNK (Classical + Punk) with songs and works that are honest, sensual, funny, brutal, pissed-off, beautiful and chilly sweet.
Leah’s multimedia autobiographical song cycle, ThisTree, premiered in the 2019 Prototype Festival and received commissioning, development, and production support from HERE as part of the HERE Artist Residency Program.
The New York Times declared ThisTree, “…forbidding stuff, but Ms. Coloff’s touch is light, her presence warm- She is, simply, honest.” I Care If You Listen expressed, “Coloff’s ability to merge the private and the collective allowed the entire piece of music-theater to become genuinely sincere without being overly sentimental.”
In addition to her personal creations, Leah is a professional cellist most recently performing as a member of the 7 piece onstage band in Daniel Fish’s Oklahoma! from its run at St. Ann’s Warehouse in Brooklyn to the Tony Award winning production of Oklahoma! Broadway. She can also be heard on the Grammy nominated Oklahoma! cast Recording.
In the classical realm, Leah’s focus is working with contemporary living composers including Philip Glass, Ted Hearne, Joel Thome, Sean Friar and Michael Gordon. She was the cellist for Ted Hearne’s The Source, produced by Beth Morrison Productions for Brooklyn Academy of Music and REDCAT in Los Angeles and can be heard on The Source (New Amsterdam), selected as one of the best classical recordings of 2015 by The New York Times and The New Yorker.
Leah is a regular performer and band member for the Obie Award winning the Secret City and cellist for the Scorchio String Quartet, featured in the award winning documentary, Inside the Perfect Circle: The Odyssey of Joel Thome.
She has performed and recorded with numerous musical artists including Trey Anastasio, David Bowie, Iggy Pop, Michael Cerveris, Rufus Wainwright, Lou Reed, Damon Albarn, Ziggy Marley, Linda Thompson, Dean & Britta, Angelique Kidjo, Nancy Sinatra and Mark Mulcahy among others.
Leah studied with Irene Sharp at The San Francisco Conservatory of Music and with Bernard Greenhouse at The New England Conservatory of Music. She learned how to play cello from her Dad, Lawrence Coloff.
