Composer, Scholar, Writer
2023 Music, Writing & Research
Enjoy the following selection of my most recent music and writing. Find more on my TikTok page, my New York Times article archive, and my Pulp article archive.
This high quality video recording of This Could Be Madness (2022) was released on November 5, 2023. Videographers Nelson T. Gast and Toko Shiiki filmed this on June 5, 2022 at Pease Auditorium in Ypsilanti, MI.
Cameron Leach, percussion soloist; Kevin Fitzgerald, conductor; Justine Sedky and Jordan Morris, flutes; Nick Thompson, clarinet; Philip Kleutgens, soprano saxophone; Jason Frazier, alto saxophone; Roberto Campa, tenor saxophone; Brian Kachur, baritone saxophone; Bryce Richardson, bassoon; Amanda Ross, trumpet; Austin Oprean, trombone.
Click the image, or follow this link, to read my November 20, 2023 feature about composer Julia Perry’s music and legacy in The New York Times.
Click the image, or follow this link, to read my September 21, 2023 feature about the connections between classical music and heavy metal in VAN Magazine.
Click the image, or follow this link, to read my January 5, 2023 feature about sixteenth century Afro-Portuguese composer Vicente Lusitano in The New York Times
This is an original work for edited stock footage and synthesizer composed and produced on November 18-19, 2023. I composed and produced the score using Reaper and the free VST instruments Sitala (bass drum), Podolski (arpeggiating synth), Helm (bass synth), Surge XT (spacey lead, secondary bass synth), Emergence (granular synthesis effect on the spacey lead), Oril River (reverb on one track of the arpeggiating synth).
The original video is titled, "Hot Roads, southern California, 1940s", and was sourced from the Internet Archive's 35mm Stock Footage catalog. I edited the final video using iMovie.
Click the image, or follow this link, to watch the archived video of my November 6, 2023 presentation at the Ann Arbor District Library, “When A.I. Enters the Concert Hall”.
Click the image, or follow this link, to read my June 10, 2023 feature about composers and experimental musicians who use A.I. in their music in The New York Times.
2022 World Premieres
Enjoy the following selection of my most recently composed, performed, and released music. Find more on my TikTok page!
This Could Be Madness (2022)
World premiere performance on June 3, 2022
Ypsilanti, MI
Video recorded and produced by Adam Schumaker
Cameron Leach, percussion soloist; Kevin Fitzgerald, conductor; Justine Sedky and Jordan Morris, flutes; Nick Thompson, clarinet; Philip Kleutgens, soprano saxophone; Jason Frazier, alto saxophone; Roberto Campa, tenor saxophone; Brian Kachur, baritone saxophone; Bryce Richardson, bassoon; Amanda Ross, trumpet; Austin Oprean, trombone.
Around Hear: Lynne Settles (2022)
Spoken word written and recorded by Lynne Settles
Video recorded, edited, and produced by Garrett Schumann
Music composed and produced by Garrett Schumann
Around Hear: Nancy Margolis (2022)
Spoken word written and recorded by Nancy Margolis
Video recorded, edited, and produced by Garrett Schumann
Music composed and produced by Garrett Schumann
Around Hear: Tai Azzaro (2022)
Spoken word written and recorded by Tai Azzaro
Video recorded, edited, and produced by Garrett Schumann
Music composed and produced by Garrett Schumann
Vicente Lusitano Research
Since 2020, I’ve conducted in-depth research on sixteenth century Afro-Portuguese composer Vicente Lusitano, much of which has been done collaboratively with UK-based choral conductor Joseph McHardy. You can read my first writing on Lusitano here, published in VAN Magazine, and more publications are currently in-progress, including Joe’s and my soon-to-be published work in Grove Music.
Enjoy the video recording of Joe’s and my presentation on Lusitano’s life and music at the Ann Arbor Public Library on October 2, 2022 linked below:
“Schumann’s delicate setting consistently captivates as its elements slowly blossom”
- textura.org
Heralded as, “dazzling”, and celebrated for its, “breadth of timbres”, award-winning composer Garrett Schumann’s music has been programmed at venues around the world.
An ardent collaborator, Garrett aims to build community with his artistic partners and audiences across the country as well as in Michigan. Garrett’s music appears on recordings released by the BBC National Orchestra Wales, Latitude 49, and Akropolis Reed Quintet.
Passionately curious and justice-oriented, Garrett’s scholarship explores a wide range of topics spanning modern heavy metal music to the life and career of sixteenth century Afro-Portuguese composer, Vicente Lusitano.
Garrett is a member of the Adjective New Music collective, which publishes and distributes a selection of his scores for rental and purchase.
Garrett’s Music
Garrett’s music begins with the personal. He is inspired by the people and places around me, and draw heavily on these connections a he creates each new musical work.
Whatever form, instrumentation, or medium his music takes, each of Garrett’s compositions begins with a specific feeling, a certain sense of sonic space and physical energy realized by his musical choices and the performers’ artistry for the listening audience.
Garrett’s catalog includes works for varied large ensemble and chamber instrumentations, voice, fixed and live electronics, as well as scores for film and other media.
Garrett is particularly drawn to intimate acoustic settings and evocative, modern texts, especially those by poets and writers be knows. Timbre, rhythm, and melody are his favorite musical elements, and many of his works are influenced by heavy metal music.