Garrett Keast
Garrett Keast (born 6 December 1971 in Houston[1]) is an American conductor and founder of the Berlin Academy of American Music (BAAM).
Biography
After studying in New York City Keast worked as associate conductor of the New York City Opera and later as assistant conductor at the Opéra National de Paris, Wiener Staatsoper and Deutsche Oper Berlin. He is a guest conductor for the Hamburg Ballet under John Neumeier.
He worked with sixty symphony orchestras and more than twenty opera companies, amongst them Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, SWR Symphonieorchester, das Philharmonisches Staatsorchester Hamburg, Bamberger Symphoniker, Orchestre de Paris, Orchestre Philharmonique de Strasbourg, Royal Danish Orchestra, City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra, Wiener Tonkünstler-Orchester, Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin, Philharmonisches Staatsorchester Hamburg and Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz.[2][3]
Berlin Academy of American Music
In 2021 Keast founded the chamber orchestra Berlin Academy of American Music (BAAM) for orchestra works with a strong connection to North America. An album called Transatlantic was recorded at Teldex Studio in Berlin and published by Onyx in London in October 2021.[4] It contains works of Aaron Copland, Avner Dorman, Igor Stravinsky, Craig Urquhart and Toru Takemitsu. Soloists were Stathis Karapanos und Chen Reiss.[5][6] Reviews were published in Fanfare Magazine,[7] Das Orchester[8] and the BBC Music Magazine amongst others.[9]
References
- ^ Blane Bachelor: From Houston to Berlin: Garrett Keast bringing American music to European stages Houston Chronicle, 9 April 2021.
- ^ John Neumeier: Bernstein Dances, Hamburgische Staatsoper
- ^ Biography on garrettkeast.com
- ^ Transatlantic, Berlin Academy of American Music / Garrett Keast Release information, October 2021.
- ^ Phillip Scott: Transatlantic (Berlin Academy of American Music, Garrett Keast) Limelight, 14 January 2014.
- ^ Richard S. Ginell: American Expats and Friends Join Forces in Transatlantic San Francisco Classical Voice, 21 November 2021.
- ^ Fanfare Magazine, April 2022.
- ^ Das Orchester, 5/2022, p.72
- ^ BBC Music Magazine, February 2022, p.70