Karen marie garrett biography
•
•
Review from Mainly Piano by Kathy Parsons
After capturing the hearts and ears of so many piano lovers (including mine!) with her first two albums of original music, Karen Marie Garrett went off the radar several years ago. We did an interview in 2007 and stayed in touch for a while after that, so I knew she had left Washington State, but I didn’t know anything else until I had the wonderful surprise of receiving her new five-selection EP for review. "The Allure of Sanctuary" (2005) and "It’s About the Rose" (2007) are both still very compelling listening with the warmth and sincerity that comes only when an artist creates from the heart, and I’m happy to say that Karen hasn’t lost a note in her long absence. She expresses more in twenty minutes than most do in an hour or more - if ever. Karen is joined on three of the five tracks by cellist Emil Miland, one by oboist Nancy Rumbel, and one by vocalist Desiree Goyette; one of the five pieces is a piano solo. Lyrical, graceful, poignant, evocative, and passionate are words that come to mind while listening to this music, and the album as a whole feels very much like the return of a good friend who had to go away for awhile. Read more...
Zone Music Reporter and Retailing Insight magazine by Bill Binkelman
I was
•
Karen Marie Garrett is an American composer and classical/contemporary/new age solo pianist. Garrett grew up in Washington State. She began learning to play the piano at the age of 5 and trained at the Sherwood Conservatory of Music in Chicago. While she focuses primarily on live performances, she has released three recorded albums, and her works have been featured in several movie soundtracks and charity projects. Garrett is regularly involved in charitable work, occasionally donating performances to the Espy Foundation to support their mission to "advance and encourage literary and visual arts through programs enabling writers, artists, and students to pursue and create new ideas and works".
Her first album, Allure of Sanctuary, was produced by Will Ackerman and released in 2005. Her second album, It's About the Rose, was released in 2007 to critical acclaim. It earned her the title of "Top Contemporary Instrumental and New Age Recording of 2007." A prominent track from It’s About the Rose, "Tally's Lullaby," inspired a number of special projects including a spoken word meditation in response to the Virginia Tech tragedy, a poem by New York author T.M. Wright, and a fundraising video for the American Cancer Society.
Garrett's