A fierce advocate for the commissioning of new works for the flute and piccolo, Garrison has worked tirelessly over the decades through his leadership in the NFA to bring new repertory to life. In addition, 21 works have been either commissioned, co-commissioned, or written for him. His edition of the Telemann Fantasias won the NFA Newly Published Music Competition in 2021, and this year Oxford University Press will publish his eagerly-awaited book, Gaston Crunelle and Flute Playing in Twentieth-Century France. Garrison and his wife, clarinetist Shannon Scott, have also created a successful and fruitful musical partnership. They began performing recitals as the Scott/Garrison Duo at Northwestern University in 1988, joined the Tulsa Philharmonic as full-time musicians in 1988 and 1989 respectively, and were 2016 prizewinners of The American Prize and winners of the NFA Chamber Music Competition. He still plays on the flute he had in college, a beloved Powell made by Fenwick Smith, #4985, with its original headjoint. He has studied with Robert Willoughby, Sam Baron, Wally Kujala, Jack Wellbaum, Richard Graef, Bill Hebert, and Brian Gordon. He has recorded 12 critically acclaimed CDs on major labels and has long been a champion of the music of Elliott Carter. He has performed as a soloist throughout the U.S., Canada, France, and China, and played flute and piccolo in the Chicago Symphony Orchestra (sub), Civic Orchestra of Chicago, Spokane Symphony (sub), and Tulsa Philharmonic.

Garrison is now Emeritus Professor (former University Distinguished Professor and Associate Director) in the Lionel Hampton School of Music at the University of Idaho.

Read the Flutist Quarterly tribute to Leonard Garrison at flutistquarterly.org/leonard-garrison/