Faculty
Garrett Rubin
As a performer, he has appeared in various operatic productions, and most recently took the stage as John Wilkes Booth in the Eastman Opera Theatre production of Stephen Sondheim’s Assassins. Last summer, he participated in the first-ever SONGFIRE apprenticeship program at the Vancouver International Song Institute, premiering an Art Song Theatre production based on the work of composers Lita Grier and Andrew Downes.
Beyond the stage, Garrett’s work as an arts activist is primarily focused on organizing efforts tailored to mobilizing music student communities. As Eastman’s Student Assistant to Community Engagement Programs, he created the George Eastman Day of Service. Since its debut in 2010, this program has inspired over 2,500 hours of completed community service in the Rochester area.
Garrett has also worked extensively with the Shropshire Music Foundation, an organization that implements music education programs for young people living in war-affected countries ( www.shropshirefoundation.org). In addition to leading various fundraising efforts to benefit the foundation, Garrett has spent time in Gjakovë, Kosovo, working as a music teacher for those affected by the Kosovo Conflict.
In 2009, he completed an urban studies research- and service-based fellowship at the University of Rochester, studying the role that arts organizations can play in community development. During his fellowship, Garrett worked with the Rochester-based literary center Writers & Books to establish a substantial scholarship fund to enable inner-city youth to take creative writing and reading classes.
He continues his interest in research as a Take Five Scholar at the University of Rochester, studying possible modes of Cultural Diplomacy for US-Middle Eastern relations. He has presented various lectures and conference presentations on topics relating to Cultural Diplomacy and Arts Activism, and has done so most recently at the State University of New York at Fredonia, the Vancouver International Song Institute, Rochester’s City Hall and the American College Music Society National Conference.
Garrett is pleased to be joining the Vancouver International Song Institute this coming summer as a program organizer and facilitator for the Institute’s Arts of Conscience Symposium.
