Kiefert was born in Germany to a German father and French-born mother. His father was a music master in the 19th Field Artillery Regiment of the
German Army. He was educated at the Universities of
Cologne and
Göttingen. He first came to Britain at 22 years old as a cellist with the
Meiningen Ensemble, performing at the
Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. Kiefert spent much of his career conducting at the
London Hippodrome and other London theatres. He was the musical director of the original London productions of such
musical theatre pieces as
His Excellency (1894), ''
An Artist's Model (1895), Florodora (1899) and The Quaker Girl'' (1910). He also wrote songs, arranged dance music from shows and wrote or co-wrote the scores to several London musicals, including
The Ballet Girl (1897) and
The Gay Grisette (1898). He orchestrated several
West End musicals early in the 20th century, especially those of
Lionel Monckton, and later several
Broadway musicals, including
Honeydew (1920) and
The Chiffon Girl (1924). "His acknowledged expertise and speed at instrumentation made Kiefert the most sought-after arranger of theatre scores and he regularly orchestrated for Lionel Monckton and
Osmond Carr." ==Later life==