Anthony Leva is a multi-disciplinary artist and educator in Cambridge, MA. Most comfortable on upright bass, Anthony is known for his playful, responsive and supportive bass lines. He has recorded on over 30 albums to date and regularly performs with the Unima Award-winning puppetry troupe the Gottabees, as well as the Dylan Jack Quartet, Charlie Kohlhase’s Explorer’s Club, Eric Hofbauer, Brian Carpenter, Timesbold, Samodivi, and Jaggery. He is an active collaborator in the Boston arts scene where his omnivorous appetite for creativity and collaboration spans theatre, film, puppetry, folk music (Americana, African, and Balkan), as well as jazz, improvised, and classical music. In addition to bass, Anthony also plays sintir (a North African bass lute). Primarily a self-taught bassist over the last 20 years, Anthony has continually sought unique opportunities for study, one of which included a stint as tour driver for legendary bassist Henry Grimes. In 2018, Anthony received a Master’s Degree in Modern American Music from the Longy School of Music at Bard College. Over the last 15 years he has had the great fortune to perform and tour extensively throughout the United States, Canada, Europe and India. In 2019, he received a USAI grant to travel to India to perform at the AHA! Theatre Festival for Children. Anthony is the community music director for Tunefoolery, a non-profit dedicated to a unique and courageous community of musicians in mental health recovery who have created a safe place where support, paid work, and learning are the foundation for healing and recovery. In addition, Anthony is a certified ESL instructor, having taught multi-level ESL learners since 2013. He is currently honing his skills as a turntablist, crankie creator/performer, and window restorer.
Teaching Philosophy
Life is a journey of learning, experimenting, stumbling, stabilizing and growing, and I believe that the classroom experience should be no different. As a lifelong student of music, a second language learner, and a passionate explorer of curiosities, I believe that we learn best by actively engaging with what we are studying. Because of this, and because each student has their own preferred learning style, I approach each class utilizing auditory, visual and kinesthetic approaches to our lessons. Each student brings their own knowledge and experience to the classroom and therefore we all have an opportunity to learn from one another. I provide students with a supportive environment where they will build confidence in their abilities and learn that mistakes are okay, even encouraged! I create lessons that are student-centered, focusing on practical experiences, cultural topics, music, history and socio-political topics. I firmly believe that together we can help each other accomplish anything!