Fun Facts

What is a favorite moment of working with students at Ouachita? 
Any time a student has an “ah-ha!” moment and grasps a concept that they then apply to their singing, resulting in a vocal, physical, or mental “breakthrough.” 

What is your favorite place on campus and why?
When I have a little spare time, I love to take walks along the Ouachita River by the Speer Pavilion. It is so serene. 

What is your go-to song? 
"I Will Survive" by Gloria Gaynor

What is your go-to snack?
Chocolate. Chocolate ice cream. Chocolate chip cookies. Chocolate coffee. You get the picture. 

What are your hobbies? 
Traveling, drinking coffee, listening to audiobooks, taking photographs, and writing songs and poetry. 

Areas of Expertise

Courses taught

• Applied Voice
• Vocal Literature
• OBU Connections: Becoming the Beatles
• Vocal Diction 2: German and French
• Ouachita Sounds (Show Choir)
• From Sight to Sound: The Journey Stories Take Becoming Musicals and Operas (Honors Seminar)
• Revolutions and Revelations: The Beatles and Religion (Honors Seminar) 

Representative Publications/Presentations

• “Operatic Influences on the Hymn Tunes Used by John and Charles Wesley”, Amazing Love! How Can It Be: Studies on Hymns by Charles Wesley, ed. Chris Fenner and Brian G. Najapfour, Biblical Spirituality Press, 2020. 
• Everything Changes: A Cabaret. Presented with John Alec Briggs at the National Association of teachers National Convention, Las Vegas, NV, 2018. 
• Dissertation: A Director’s Guide to staging the Song Cycle, Songs of Fields and Prairies, by Jocelyn Hagen, 2008. 

Involvement

• National Association of Teachers of Singing (Southern Region Assistant Auditions Chair
• Sigma Alpha Iota (Epsilon Delta Faculty Advisor and Treasurer)
• Musical Theatre Educators’ Alliance College Music Society
• The Voice Foundation
• National Opera Association
• Arkadelphia Philharmonic Club
• The New York Singing Teachers' Association
• Pi Kappa Lambda National Music Honor Society

Artist Bio

Faculty Recitals 

• Caffeinated: My Senior BMMT Recital (2019)
  • Based on the Bachelor of Music in Musical Theatre senior recital
  • Classical songs and arias, vocal chamber music, musical theatre songs and duets, a song and tap dance number, and a scene by Shakespeare
• Everything Changes: A Motherhood Cabaret (2017)
  • Autobiographical musical theatre cabaret about motherhood
  • OBU professor John Alec Briggs served as pianist and music director
  • Co-written and directed by Broadway veteran Kelli Barrett (Liza Minelli – Fosse/Verdon)
  • Presented at the 2018 National Association of Teachers of Singing National Conference (Las Vegas, NV), OBU (2017 & 2018), Arkansas Tech University (2017), and Blue Mountain College (2017).

Operatic Performances

• Gems of French Opera/Opera in Concert
• Mary, the Mother of Jesus/Rendezvous with Destiny (World Premiere) 
• Mabel/Pirates of Penzance
• Laurie/The Tender Land
• Sandrina/La Finta Giardiniera
• Little Red Riding Hood/Little Red Riding Hood
• Polly/Polly Patchwork/IU Opera Educational Tour
• Worldly Spirit/The Obligation of the First Commandment
• Kentucky Opera
  • Dialogues des Carmélites, Les pêcheurs de perles, Madama Buttlerfly, La bohème
• Piedmont Opera
  • Cavaliere Rusticana/I Pagliacci, Il Trovatore, Don Giovanni, L’elisir d’amore
• Opera Carolina
  • La bohème
•  Indiana University Opera Theater
  • Suor Angelica, La bohème

Oratorio Solos

• Handel’s Messiah
• Mendelssohn’s Elijah
• Fauré’s Requiem
• Haydn’s Creation
• Brahms’ German Requiem
• Bach’s Magnificat
• Vivaldi’s Gloria
• Vaughan Williams’ Pilgrim’s Progress

Orchestral Solos/Chamber Work

• Mozart’s Exsultate, jubilate
• Glière’s Concerto for Coloratura Soprano and Orchestra
• Ligeti’s Mysteries of the Macabre

Theatre/Musical Theatre

• It’s a Wonderful Life/Hot Springs Bathhouse Dinner Theatre
• Matilda/The Studio Theatre
• A Little Night Music/Bloomington Music Works
• My Fair Lady/Davidson Community Players
• The Butterfingers Angel/Davidson Community Players
• Play It Again, Sam/Davidson Community Players

DR. GARRETT PLAYLIST

STUDENT PLAYLIST

 

SELECTED ACHIEVEMENTS BY DR. GARRETT’S STUDENTS

Professional Performances

• Arkansas Children’s Theatre (Little Rock, AR)
• Biblical Times Dinner Theatre (Pigeon Forge, TN)
• Birmingham Children’s Theatre (Birmingham, AL)
• Disney College Program (Orlando, FL)
• Fancyful Parties (Little Rock, AR)
• Hawks Cay Resort (Florida Keys)
• Horn in the West (Boone, NC)
• Million Dollar Quartet National Tour
• Missoula Children’s Theatre (Missoula, MT)
• Murry’s Dinner Playhouse (Little Rock, AR)
• North Texas Performing Arts (Plano, TX)
• Ogunquit Playhouse (Ogunquit, ME)
• The Phoenix Theatre Company (Phoenix, AZ)
• The Rev. Theatre Co. (Auburn, NY)
• Sierra Repertory Theatre (Sonora, CA)
• Sight & Sound Theatre (Branson, MO)
• Sight & Sound Theatre (Lancaster, PA)
• Silcock’s Winter Wonderland (Manchester, UK)
• Silver Dollar City (Branson, MO)
• Six Flags over Texas (Dallas, TX)
• TEXAS Outdoor Musical (Canyon, TX)
• Trumpet in the Land (New Philadelphia, OH)
• Walt Disney World’s Hollywood Studios (Orlando, FL)
  • The Great American Movie Ride
  • Indiana Jones Stunt Show (Marian)
  • Jedi Training Program (Nedriss)
• Wayside Theater (Middletown, VA)

Music Educators

• Bright Elementary School (St. Leon, IN)
• Burnet Elementary School (Galveston, TX)
• Como Montessori School (Fort Worth, TX)
• Conway Christian School (Conway, SC)
• Dripping Springs ISD (Dripping Springs, TX)
• Jacksonville Lighthouse Charter School (Jacksonville, AR)
• Little Rock Christian Academy (Little Rock, AR)
• Malvern Elementary School (Malvern, AR)
• Maumelle Charter Elementary School (Maumelle, AR)
• MicroSociety Magnet School (Jonesboro, AR)
• Noble-Reed Elementary School (Crandall, TX)
• Poyen School District (Poyen, AR)
• Prestonwood Christian Academy (Plano, TX)
• Springtown High School (Springtown, TX)
• Woodlawn High School (Woodlawn, AR)

Worship Leaders

• Fellowship Bible Church (West Little Rock, AR)
• Fellowship Worship (Northwest AR)
• Lake Valley Community Church (Hot Springs, AR)
• The Leland Church (Leland, NC)
• Lyndon Baptist Church (Louisville, KY)
• Prestonwood Baptist Church (Plano, TX)

Summer Programs/Study Abroad

• Broadway Artist Alliance Workshops (New York, NY)
• Musica nelle marche Opera in Italy Summer Program
• OBU’s NYC Professional Intensive for Musical Theatre (New York, NY)
• Opera in Concert’s Opera in Italy Summer Study Abroad Program
• Study Abroad at Liverpool Hope University (Liverpool, England)
• Study Abroad at the Mozarteum (Salzburg, Austria)
• University of Miami Salzburg Program (Salzburg, Austria) 

Awards

• Arkansas District Metropolitan Opera Encouragement Award Winner
• Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival Musical Theater Initiative (KCFTCF) Music Theatre Winner 
• Mary Shambarger Vocal Competition Winners
• NATS Arkansas Chapter Winners
• NATS Southern Region Winners
• Trinity Presents Collegiate Performance Showcase Winner (2013)

Graduate Program Acceptances

• Campbell University School of Divinity
• Indiana University-Bloomington Early Music Institute
• Liverpool Hope University
• New York University
• North Texas University
• Northeastern Illinois University
• Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary
• The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary
• Texas Tech University
• Tulane University
• University of Alabama
• University of Arkansas
• University of Louisville
• Yale University Early Music Institute Finalist