Garrett Semmelink

Born 1988 in Commack, New York and currently residing in Philadelphia, Garrett Semmelink is an American violinist with a passion for creative new music-making. While trained in Western classical music, he is well-versed in multiple styles having learned mostly by ear. His versatility and sensitivity as a violinist coupled with the drive for experimentation as an interpreter and improviser to transcend conventional techniques delivers unique and dynamic performances, whether solo or collaborative. His decade-long project with composer, programmer and engineer Andrew Grathwohl explores a critical intersection between acoustic instruments and electronics in a live setting.

Garrett is co-founder and co-director of ▲, an ensemble devoted to chartering this new landscape of sounds at the nexus of composition, improvisation and interpretation. He is the first musician to release an extensive catalog of improvised and semi-composed music for solo violin using Grathwohl’s interactive musical synthesis application and performance framework, “Sonic Multiplicities.”

Garrett studied violin and string pedagogy with Dr. Brenda Brenner and Mimi Zweig at Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. He’s had the pleasure of collaborating with some of the world’s finest musicians including David Baker, Leonard Slatkin, Alex Kerr, Mark Kaplan, Gil Apap, Jeffery Biegel, Cory Smythe, Chih-Yi Chen, and Jeannette Koekkoek. In 2008 he toured with indie-folk duo “Busman’s Holiday” throughout Indiana and the mid-west as well as the electro-acoustic classical-art-pop ensemble “Pantree Owl” which he co-founded in 2009.

music by this artist

TITLE CATEGORY DATE
Delegated Powers / Crimes Committed Composition Jan 11, 23
Reflection, No. 4 Reflection Sep 18, 20
Head in the Clouds Live Score Sep 04, 20
Nineteen Years Composition Aug 26, 20
PSEUDO Composition Aug 23, 20
Upward Fall Album Aug 14, 20
Birthday Cake Chest Wound Composition Feb 14, 20
Rococo Slaughter Composition Jan 31, 20
Adrift Composition Jan 17, 20
A Deep Sense of Responsibility Composition Dec 18, 19
FIREROOM Composition Dec 04, 19
Reflection No. 3 Reflection Nov 02, 19
Music Ain't For Airports Composition Oct 17, 19
Injection Time Lapse Composition Oct 12, 19
Solfatara Composition Nov 04, 18
Animals (Fucking) Composition Aug 08, 15
Infatuated Composition Aug 01, 15
Reflection No. 2 Reflection Jun 13, 15
Mojo Composition Apr 30, 15
Splatter Composition Apr 23, 15
Luxury Prism Composition Apr 23, 15
Prelude to Titan Composition Mar 06, 15
Reflection No. 1 Reflection Feb 27, 15
Theia Composition Feb 25, 15
Electric Chair Composition Jan 14, 15
Titan Composition Jan 09, 15
Labor Composition Dec 17, 14
Miasma Composition Dec 12, 14
Inertia Composition Oct 26, 14
Vasoconstriction Composition Oct 23, 14
LEK4_AND Composition Oct 19, 12
MAN QUA MAN Composition May 30, 12
Maine Composition Feb 10, 12
Drowned Composition Feb 10, 12
Schadenfreude Composition Jul 11, 11
Freiburg Composition Jul 28, 10