Matthew L. Garrett (he/him) is Professor of Music Education and Director of the University Center for Innovation in Teaching and Education (UCITE) at Case Western Reserve University, where he has been on faculty since 2009 and has led the UCITE team since 2017, drawing on 30+ years of teaching experience.
Garrett's research focuses on LGBTQ+ issues in music education. In 2026, he published "Queering Music Teacher Education" in the Oxford Handbook of Gender and Queer Studies in Music Education. He co-authored Honoring Trans and Gender-Expansive Students in Music Education (Oxford University Press, 2021) with Joshua Palkki, and serves on the advisory board for Oxford Intersections: Gender Justice. A leading LGBTQ+ scholar in the field, Garrett authored one of the first peer-reviewed articles (2010) on LGBTQ+ studies in a mainstream U.S. music education journal and frequently reviews gender and sexual diversity scholarship for national and international journals.
Originally from South Carolina, Garrett holds degrees from Florida State and Boston Universities. He previously taught music in Central Florida and Southeast Massachusetts public schools. He continues making music as Music Director at The Church of the Covenant in University Circle.