TMA149 Members

Double bassist, Christopher Laven, grew up in a musical family and began his studies at a young age while living in Houston, Texas. He didn’t start the bass until his family relocated to Massachusetts in 2006, but while growing up in the Greater Boston area, Chris studied primarily with Susan Hagan, while frequently taking lessons from Larry Wolfe. He received his Bachelor’s degree in Houston at Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music, where he studied with Tim Pitts. He would go on to complete his Masters Degree back in Boston, where he studied with Todd Seeber at the New England Conservatory. As a student, Chris spent his summers studying at the Music Academy of the West in 2018, and at the Tanglewood Music Center in 2022 and 2023. During his time at NEC, he had the pleasure of performing with many orchestras in the Boston Area, including the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Boston Pops, Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra, Rhode Island Philharmonic, Rhode Island Philharmonic Pops, Phoenix Chamber Orchestra, the Springfield Symphony and the Boston Philharmonic. He also enjoyed coaching alongside some of his former teachers at the Boston Youth Symphony Orchestras, an organization which he is an alumni of and attributes a lot of his musical growth to. In the fall of 2023, he is excited to be joining the Toronto Symphony Double Bass section for their 101st season. Outside of classical music, Chris is also a music producer who works closely with Latino artist, 3van, who is a close friend from high school. Together, they have embarked on a U.S. tour, have released multiple EPs which can be heard on 3van’s artist pages on Spotify and Apple Music, and have a collaboration with acclaimed rap artist, Snoop Dogg.