James Austin Laff’s leadership has elevated ensembles, from children’s choirs to the “Mihail Jora” Philharmonic Orchestra in Bacău, Romania. He worked extensively with collegiate choruses as assistant director of the Amherst College Choral Society, co-conductor of the University of Southern California Thornton School of Music University Chorus, and chorusmaster for the Amherst Symphony Orchestra and USC Thornton Opera Program. Laff has also engaged communities as assistant music director of the Los Angeles Zimriyah Chorale, a master choir dedicated to performing music of the Jewish experience, and as director of the Thirty-Second Street Elementary School JazzReach Choir.
Laff’s wide baritone range and expressive soloist tone were featured in two world premieres: Aleksandar Sedlar Bogoevʼs Mačkonja and Sarah Rimkus’s The Lost Garden. An elite chorister, Laff performed with Sir Elton John at the Emmy Awards, The Rolling Stones on their “50 and Counting Tour,” and Barry Manilow at the L.A. Live Holiday Tree Lighting Ceremony. He has sung in opera choruses and baroque ensembles, as well as symphonic choirs directed by James Levine, Helmuth Rilling, and James Conlon.
Laff established himself as an orchestrator at Congregation Kol Ami of West Hollywood, where he served as music director. In addition to hiring musicians, leading rehearsals, and simultaneously conducting and singing services, Laff orchestrated forty-six arrangements which included classical and contemporary music and featured ensembles ranging from rock and jazz bands to string and vocal quartets.
Laff received his master’s degree in choral and sacred music from the USC Thornton School of Music in 2014. He earned a bachelor’s degree with honors in American political thought in 2009 from Amherst College. His principal teachers include Jo-Michael Scheibe, Nick Strimple, Don Brinegar, Mallorie Chernin, Cristian Grases, and Mark Lane Swanson (conducting); Morten Lauridsen and Eric Sawyer (composition); Mary Mattei, Rodney Gisick, and Jon Lee Keenan (voice); and Alissa Leiser and Kelli Horton (piano). Laff is a member of the Phi Kappa Phi and Pi Kappa Lambda honor societies, as well as the National Association for Music Education.
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