Margo Garrett Steps Down

Collaborative Piano Teacher Steps Down

Margo Garrett, one of the most widely recognized ensemble pianists in the business, joined the Juilliard faculty in 1985, served as chair of the collaborative piano department from 1986 to 1991, rejoined the faculty in 2000, and is now stepping down. Garrett will be succeeded by one of her students, Lydia Brown (DMA ’06, collaborative piano), whose appointment was announced earlier this spring and who pays tribute to her mentor here.

In the summer of 1997, I attended the Aspen Music Festival and School as the recipient of the Vocal Chamber Music Fellowship. I was working with mezzo-soprano Brenda Patterson, who said to me “Do you know Margo Garrett? You should work with her.” It was the first time I’d heard a name that would shape my future.

My lessons with Margo were times of discovery. She intuited what I needed and always at the appropriate time in my study. I recall a memorable lesson on Rachmaninoff songs from several different opuses in which she coached the Russian language with ease while giving me an extremely detailed pianistic lesson on each song. In another lesson, as I played spirituals with a singer Margo told me to “stick with the message.” Her meaning I gratefully received—that inhabiting the singer’s words and supporting the singer’s (and the music’s) message was my responsibility as a true collaborative artist. I remember feeling as if I had much to learn but that with her teaching, my goals were attainable. Margo’s positive guidance and mentorship, her deep connection to the true expression of text, her consummate treatment of colleagues, her vast experience in all areas of collaborative piano, and her lifelong commitment to the genre of song and vocal chamber music have inspired countless musicians. It is with the utmost respect for her and her work that I will strive to instill the very same values that she so graciously imparted to me.