about Akiva

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Equally fluent on upright and electric bass in classical, jazz and rock, Akiva studied bass performance at Indiana University and with members of the New York Philharmonic, Boston Symphony and LA Phil at Tanglewood, Aspen and the Music Academy of the West. He has received scholarships and awards from the Aspen Music Festival, the Boston Conservatory and from Indiana University’s School of Music. He has performed with artists such as Leonard Bernstein, Mstislav Rostropovich and jazz legends such as Max Roach and Stan Getz. From 1993-1996 he was a member of the bass section of the National Orchestra of Greece where he toured internationally throughout Europe.

Akiva is the recipient of numerous American and international commissions and awards. His music has been performed in France, Denmark, Germany, the US, Taiwan and Korea. Akiva studied composition under Lukas Foss, John McDonald and Pierre Boulez. He is the recipient of the St. Botolph Foundation Award and Grant in composition, First Prize winner of the Jewish Music Commission of Los Angeles competition, a Kaminer Family Foundation Career Development grant and a full scholarship at Tufts University where he was appointed a visiting lecturer, and tought a couse on the history of Jewish music. 

Akiva has conducted the National Orchestra of Greece, the Bohuslav Martinu Philharmonic and the Beethoven Chamber Orchestra of the Czech Republic and other orchestras and ensembles in Europe and in the US. He has worked extensively conducting and collaborating with members of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the Boston Pops, and studied at the Pierre Monteux School for Conductors and in the Czech Republic.