Member Spotlight: Garrett Schumann

GARRETT SCHUMANN

Ann Arbor, Undergraduate Curriculum Support

What is your area of specialty?

Music, Music Composition, Musicology

Link to website: https://www.nytimes.com/by/garrett-schumann

What are you proud of as a lecturer?

I am most proud that I still have a job at UM, that all three courses I teach are courses I've designed myself, and that I've found a way to teach music well in a liberal arts context.

What might others not know about you?

I'm an identical twin!

What is something that you are proud of outside your role as a lecturer?

My family is the most important part of my life; I adore my wife, Shana, and two sons, Isaac (4.5) and Gerald (almost 3). At home, I am a very avid cook and epicure. One of my favorite things to do is improvise in the kitchen and make something delicious without a recipe. I am proud of the other work I do outside of teaching, which includes composing experimental music and freelance music writing. Since 2023, I have published four features on classical music in The New York Times (the link I shared earlier is to my author page there), and I have written for other outlets in this period, too. I love that these articles engage topics I am very passionate about, such as the historical exclusion of composers from classical music, the impact of AI on people who make music, and the intersection of heavy metal and classical music. Finally, I am in the midst of two related music projects. The first is a commission from the Ann Arbor District Library that is part of their programming for the City of Ann Arbor's bicentennial. This electronics composition is based on and uses audio from Lyndon Johnson's 'Great Society' speech, the 1964 commencement address at the University of Michigan. In the spring, I was awarded a grant from the University of Michigan Arts Initiative to produce a collaborative performance project with two collaborators, Sara Tea (a local ambient musician) and Julie Zhu (a postdoctoral fellow here who is a composer and carillonist). Our project is called 'Resonant Soundscapes' and involves two free performances in November. The first is an ambient music headphone listening experience with live carillon improvisation at 5:30 PM on Sunday, November 3 in and around Burton Memorial Tower on the Ann Arbor campus. The second is on Sunday, November 10 at 2:00 PM in Blanche Anderson Moore Recital Hall within the Earl V. Moore Building on the Ann Arbor Campus. This program features a live sound bath by Sara Tea, my aforementioned commissioned work from the Ann Arbor District Library, and a new organ composition by Julie Zhu.

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