About Garrit
Garrit Guadan was born in Tacoma, Washington and called the small town of Port Orchard home for 20 years. He began studying piano at the age of 9, and took to it quickly. By the age of 12 he had composed his first piece, a 3 part Piano Suite. Garrit continued studying piano through college, and acted as an accompanist for students at the University of Puget Sound, and at AMDA.
Garrit found his love for acting at a later age. He was cast in his first production at the age of 15, playing Noah Claypool in Oliver!. After catching the "acting bug", Garrit was in productions non-stop for 5 years. He studied Drama at the University of Puget Sound with Bob Evans and Geoff Proehl, and studied Musical Theatre, Acting, and Dance at the American Musical and Dramatic Academy. He has appeared Off-Broadway in Twist (2006 Drama Desk nominee Outstanding Music), and has also been in productions of Brigadoon, The Sound of Music, Fiddler on the Roof, Angels in America Part 1. In 2007 Garrit was nominated for Outstanding Actor in a Musical for his portrayal of Fagin in Twist at the Midtown International Theatre Festival.
He began studying voice at 16, and with the help of his first teacher Joy Dunning, went on to win local level Solo and Ensemble contests for 2 years, and go to state competetion as a soloist twice. He continued his vocal studies with Dr. Thomas Goleeke at the University of Puget Sound, and was in the Music Department's productions of The Pirates of Penzance and starred as Gabriel Eisenstein in Die Fledermaus. In New York, Garrit studied voice with Sharla Nafziger at AMDA, and was chosen as a featured Voice Studio performer for end of semester demonstrations. He currently studies voice with Kyle Gonyea.
Garrit currently works as an Actor, Accompanist, Musical Director, Composer, and Teacher in New York. He was most recently featured in the music video I Am the World, and has worked for the past year as the Musical Director for the Award winning Center Stage Theatre Company. He is an Award winning composer (2007 Midtown International Theatre Festival Outstanding Music award), and has written original compositions for Twist, Young and Stupid: A Cabaret, and is currently working on a song cycle and new production TBA. He works regularly as an accompanist for the Kate Pazakis Voice Studio, and also gives Vocal Coachings as well as Piano instruction. He is a member of ASCAP (American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers) and the AFM (American Federation of Musicians) Local 802.