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Garrett McQueen

About this Artist

A proud native of Memphis, TN, Garrett McQueen has performed in venues across the country, including Los Angeles' Disney Hall, Detroit's Max M. Fischer Music Center, and New York's Carnegie Hall. As well as performing as a member of the South Arkansas Symphony, Jackson Symphony, American Youth Symphony, Memphis Repertory Orchestra, the Eroica Ensemble, and most recently, the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra, he has worked with groups including the Sphinx Symphony Orchestra, Memphis Symphony Orchestra, the Southeast Symphony, the Artosphere and Gateways Festival Orchestras, the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, the Louisville Orchestra, and the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. He has enjoyed giving multiple solo recitals, performing with the Godiva Woodwind Quintet, USC Scholarship Quintet, and Cooper-Young Winds, giving master classes, acting as a guest instructor for the Bahamas Music Conservatory and Idyllwild Arts Academy, adjudicating West Tennessee Band auditions, and teaching a studio of flutists/oboists/bassoonists consisting of middle school, high school, and undergraduate college students. He has performed in multiple Broadway Musicals in Memphis under the baton of David Spencer and keeps himself busy in other free-lance activities, including being featured in Indie Rock tracks produced by Goner Records (2009) and True Panther Sounds (2010). Garrett has been heard as both a performer and guest host on APM's "Performance Today", and was featured as the principal bassoonist on the Memphis Repertory Orchestra's inaugural CD of works by Dvorak and Tchaikovsky. He has also appeared on a wide array of television shows, including Oxygen's "Snapped: Killer Couples", TV One's "Fatal Attraction", and Fox's "Glee".

His affinity for 20th and 21st century music drives his passion for the art form, and in a performance of Eric Ewazen’s “Concerto for Bassoon and Wind Ensemble,” Ewazen noted his “wonderful playing” and characterized McQueen as someone who “gives a great performance of [his] piece”. In 2012, McQueen was noted as one of America’s “most interesting classical musicians” by conductor and author of “The Real Toscanini: Musicians Reveal the Maestro”, Cesare Civetta.

Garrett McQueen is a strong advocate for the diversification of classical music and the advancement of black musicians in the field. He's spoken on diversity panels presented by the Gateways Music Festival, the Sphinx Organization and the Kennedy Center's Shift Festival, and continues in this work both in and outside of the concert hall. Much of his work has been published by organizations with parallel agendas, including his series on "The Relationship Between Race and Classical Music" by Arts in a Changing America. In an article produced by Current, McQueen was hailed as "a black talent in public media that you may not know, but should". 

Garrett holds a Bachelor of Music in Bassoon from the University of Memphis, where he studied with Lecolion Washington, and a Master of Music in Bassoon from the University of Southern California, where he studied with Judith Farmer. In addition to serving as the host and producer of the nationally syndicated radio program, "Music Through the Night", Garrett is the Executive Producer of TRILLOQUY, and continues to perform with ensembles around the world.