Jeffrey was born in Williams, Arizona, and graduated from the Juilliard School of Music in New York. He was the winner of the 1st edition of the international piano competition in memory of Dino Ciani at La Scala in Milan. He won the gold medal in the Queen Elizabeth competition in Brussels and received top honors in the Chopin competition in Warsaw, and the Van Cliburn, the Vianna da Motta, and the Montreal competitions. He has played under the baton of many leading conductors.
His repertoire ranges from Bach to Boulez, from the entire Beethoven Sonata to transcriptions of the late 19th century. Jeffrey has recorded with Deutsche Grammophon, Rca-Italy, Ars Polona, Replica, Fonit-Cetra, Music & Arts and Agorà. His CD “The Virtuoso Liszt” won the “Grand Prix” of the Liszt Society.
Jeffrey has been the artistic director of the Dino Ciani Festival since its inception in 2007 and has been the artistic director of the prestigious concert series at the Scuola Normale di Pisa since 2013.