Matt Olson

Matt Olson

I started teaching at LEAP in the fall of 2018, and I absolutely love the enthusiasm of the students.

I teach in four main subject areas: Guitar, Piano, Voice, and International Percussion (focus on Afro-Cuban, Afro-Brazillian, and West African Music). 

A huge part of my job as a teacher is to guide students into a life-long love for music, and this means playing and exploring the music they love! In all of our classes we appreciate and learn how to play music from many of the students' respective countries. We don't limit ourselves... we learn how to play in all genres, hip-hop, pop, jazz, folk, traditional, classical, etc. We also learn about the basics of music theory in order to write our own songs. 

Check out our Youtube page to see what we are working on and catch some student performances!

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCeItH2-SXU6IPxKpdnea3oQ/playlists?disable_polymer=1

A few special things happening at LEAP this year:

- Artists residency with 7 artists from the ARBEIT Opera company did a November residency in which they performed for students and had students participate in some stage movement workshops.

- Babatunde Lea, a master drummer, has come in worked on Afro-Cuban Rhythms with the International Music Ensemble

- Student's participated in Grammy Camp, an all day workshop for High-School students with world-renowned producers, songwriters, and performers.