Leah Bowden

Leah Bowden is a percussionist, music educator, scholar, and community organizer. She holds a Doctorate of Musical Arts from UC San Diego, where she was a member of Steve Schick’s resident percussion ensemble red fish blue fish. Dr. Bowden authored Max Roach and M’Boom: Diasporic Soundings in American Percussion Music (2018) and contributes to Tom Tom Magazine.

Leah is an active performer who regularly plays in Los Angeles, New York, San Diego and New England, covering various styles ranging from popular music, jazz and world music to chamber and orchestral music. Leah tours nationally with The Forest, a New York-based percussion quintet known for their innovative performances, and internationally with Baby Bushka, the critically acclaimed “Kate Bush experience of Your Dreams.”

While a graduate student, Leah founded and directed El Otro Lado, an international percussion ensemble focused on Max Roach and M’Boom’s music, and served as board president and drummer for The Voices of Our City Choir, a performance organization serving unsheltered communities that was featured in a PBS documentary and America’s Got Talent.

A versatile educator, Dr. Bowden has taught classes and directed ensembles at UC San Diego, CalArts, Tijuana Cultural Center, Amherst College, the University of Illinois, Portland State, and other institutions. She regularly collaborates with M’Boom co-founder Warren Smith on archival and performance initiatives, and is currently an adjunct music professor at Springfield College.

Left: The Forest Percussion Ensemble in SOHO, New York. Right: Dr. Bowden teaching World Music class.