Biography (Less Than 200 Words)

Garrett Schumann (1987-) is an award-winning composer, music scholar, performer, educator, and writer based in Ypsilanti, MI. Garrett’s compositions have been performed around the world by leading soloists and ensembles including the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Akropolis Reed Quintet, vibraphonist Joel Ross, Latitude 49, the percussionists of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Megan Ihnen & Alan Theisen Present, violist Michael Hall. In 2024, Garrett launched the celebrated ambient electroacoustic performance project Resonant Soundscapes with Sara Tea and Julie Zhu. Resonant Soundscapes has been featured by the Ann Arbor Summer Festival and UMS, and Garrett, Sara, and Julie regularly perform as a trio and with guest collaborators.

Garrett’s writing focuses on the ways musical practice reproduces inequality and structures of social identity. You can read his work in The New York Times, NPR, Grove Music, Oxford American, Cambridge University Press’s Public Humanities journal, VAN Magazine, and many other outlets. Garrett teaches music courses for the University of Michigan College of Literature, Sciences, and the Arts.

Garrett served as the Executive Director of the nonprofit ÆPEX Contemporary Performance from 2015-2022. Under Garrett’s leadership, ÆPEX presented more than 30 concerts and community music events in Ypsilanti, Ann Arbor, Detroit, Kalamazoo, and Mt. Pleasant.