A desire to unify hearts and minds through the spirit and messages of music is at the core of Garrett Keast’s work. Known for his ability to inspire and connect with musicians and audiences alike, the Berlin-based conductor is widely recognized for his musical depth with a wide range of repertoire both in the concert hall and opera house. Garrett Keast has become known in recent years for his symphonic conducting and expertise in American repertoire as well as for his rise as founder and conductor of his critically acclaimed orchestra, the Berlin Academy of American Music.

Garrett Keast began his career as Associate Conductor of New York City Opera before launching his career in Europe with engagements at the Paris Opera, Orchestre de Paris, Deutsche Oper Berlin, and the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester. Today, he regularly appears at top venues including Hamburg’s Elbphilharmonie, Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, Brussel’s BOZAR, the Staatsoper Hamburg, Seoul Arts Center, Theater an der Wien, and the Festspielhaus Baden-Baden. Described as drawing out “refined and concentrated playing” with “assured sensitivity” (Financial Times), Garrett Keast has conducted performances with orchestras including the Tonkünstler Orchester, Deutsches Sinfonie-Orchester Berlin, Philharmonisches Staatsorchester Hamburg, Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin, Orchestre National Capitole Toulouse, Philharmonique de Monte Carlo, the Atlanta Symphony, and the Los Angeles Opera Orchestra. Recent recording projects have included Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf with the Konzerthaus Orchester Berlin and the debut album of the Berlin Academy of American Music, Transatlantic, which received 5 stars from the BBC Music, Fanfare, Limelight and das Orchester magazines.

Garrett Keast’s symphonic repertoire extends from Brahms, Mahler, and Tchaikovsky to Adams, Britten, and Widmann. From the operatic canon, he has led masterworks of contemporary composers such as Georg Friedrich Hass and Unsuk Chin to pillars of the genre by Mozart, Puccini, Strauss, and Wagner.