Maker of double basses and cellos, Peter Elias is Canadian but has lived in Switzerland since 1992. A considerable part of his experience in the music world has been as a musician, having been a professional bass player before dedicating himself to the construction of instruments. Largely self-taught as a luthier, his most important influences have been close working relationships with professional musicians. To date over 140 of his instruments are being played by professional musicians in Europe, North and South America, Australia and Asia.

As a bass player, he initially found himself drawn to the research and construction of the double bass. His success in the bass world has been considerable and Elias Double Basses have been purchased by numerous orchestras or their players. Notably the Chicago Symphony Orchestra bass section unanimously decided to buy nine Elias basses. Other orchestras include: the Stockholm Philharmonic, the Royal Swedish Opera, the Gothenburg Opera, the Norwegian National Opera, the London Symphony Orchestra, the Südwestfunk Orchestra of Baden-Baden, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, the Canadian Opera Company in Toronto, the Tonhalle Orchestra of Zürich, the Chamber Orchestra of Lausanne, the Portuguese National Orchestra of Oporto and the Brazilian Symphony Orchestra of Sao Paolo.  The Royal Conservatory of Music, Stockholm and the UDK in Berlin have Elias basses. Bass professors including Thomas Monohan, Joel Quarrington, Micheal Wolf, Thorvald Fredin, Micheal Karlsson and Marc-Antoine Bonanomi have bought Elias basses.

A few years later, cellos also became the object of Elias’ creativity. Niall Brown of the Luxembourg Philharmonic Orchestra, Catherine Tunnel of the Chamber Orchestra of Lausanne, Janis Laurs from the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, Suzanne Wijsman who is cello professor at the University of Western Australia, David Sharp of the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra and Rowena Macneish who plays in the Enigma Quartet are among those who have purchased Elias cellos. Peter Elias continues to professionally play the bass, mostly in jazz, as well as participating in chamber music ensembles on the cello.