On the surface, it sounds so simple.
Columbus native Brad Garton’s parents told him during his boyhood that he could do anything with his life.
Yet, the amazing part is that he believed them so passionately that he has become a recognized pioneer in computerized music — so much so that he will host a reading-and-music presentation “My Memory Book” on Feb. 9 at the Vincent Astor Gallery at Lincoln Center in New York City.
Part of those readings, accompanied by his music apps providing backing ambient instrumental and sound-effects, will include remembrances of his local childhood raised by former longtime state senator Robert Garton and community leader Barb Garton.
“I wound up doing what I really like to do,” he said, speaking by phone while vacationing on Whidbey Island near Seattle, Washington. “I think that’s pretty amazing.
“That Midwestern attitude especially back then was kind of magical.”
Magical is the word many use to describe the work of the 61-year-old composer and computer musician on the music composition faculty at Columbia University in New York City. He also serves as director of the university’s Computer Music Center.
The Columbus North High School and graduate of Purdue and Princeton universities creates immersive iPad applications with original music, text, and graphics, chronicling his life, his joys, and more, all a part of next week’s performance. He has written, or helped to write, a number of computer music applications. And some of his works have been performed around the world.
“Just re-reading some of my memories the other day to prepare for a performance in Utah, I was reminded that I aimed to be very honest (in my writing),” he said.
Which means his presentations can be laced with a touch of emotion and vulnerability amid the technology.
Garton provided sound effects and keyboards for the band Dow Jones and the Industrials in the late 1970s and early 1980s during his time majoring in pharmacy at Purdue University in West Lafayette.
It makes sense if you discover he labeled himself “Mr. Science” in those days. Besides, this is a fellow who casually punctuates his professional conversations with terms such as “musical algorithms.” That refers to the fact that the algorithms he designs allow his apps to make changes to musical compositions accompanying each separate, public reading of the same book at an appearance.
“So no two readings are exactly the same,” he said before one such presentation. “They always will be subtly changing.”
He knows how to poke good-natured fun at himself, sometimes sharing details online about his programming for an audience he calls “the geekily inclined.”
His expertise has helped to establish more than 40 computer music centers and studios around the world, from Portugal to Japan to Uruguay. At Columbia, his work with students has helped propel many of them to positions at Ivy League schools and with giants such as Apple and Google, according to his promotional material.
Neil Thornock, associate director of Brigham Young University’s School of Music, promoted a recent Garton multi-media presentation in Provo, Utah, by saying it promised to be “a gorgeous, unforgettable experience.”
The composer has done far more than overcome musical and electronic challenges and break new ground in composition. He has overcome multiple myeloma, an experience that actually produced much of the text for presentations such as the upcoming one at Lincoln Center.
In one online interview for Columbia, he acknowledged that the illness diagnosed in 2007 “fueled my desire to put the experiences of my life into some form that my friends and family could use to recall me (if I had died).”
[sc:pullout-title pullout-title=”About Brad Garton” ][sc:pullout-text-begin]
Hometown: Columbus
Current residence: Roosevelt, New Jersey
Position: Composer and computer musician on the music composition faculty at Columbia University in New York City. He also serves as director of the university’s Computer Music Center.
Education: Columbus North High School; a pharmacy degree from Purdue University and a doctorate in music composition from Princeton University.
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