David Garrett was born David Bongartz to a German jurist and an American prima ballerina mother on September 4th, 1980 in Aachen, Germany. From very early on, David Garrettexhibited his passion and deep love for music.
Garrett started learning how to play the violin at age 4 and had enrolled in the Lübeck Conservatoire by the time he turned 7. At 10, Garrett had his first performance at a public concert with the Hamburg Philharmonic, which was being directed by Gerd Albrecht at the time. At 13, he has become the youngest exclusive artist under Deutsche Grammophon Gesellschaft, a fact that helped to launch him into the international limelight. He had also recorded two full-length CDs of his violin music and was even a fixture on the local TV circuit. In 1992, Garrett worked alongside the legendary Polish violinist Ida Haendel who played a considerable role that shaped and influenced his development as an artist with his personal unique style.
He joined the Royal College of Music at 17 but left the school to join the Juilliard School of Music where he studied composition and musicology under the tutelage of Itzhak Perlman. Before he moved to New York, Garrett had already become a household name and was at the height of his young career. He opted to attend Julliard because he was interested in gaining a theoretical foundation that would help him perfect his technique and style.
While at Julliard, he laid the foundation for his later legendary arrangements. Here, he also realized great success. For instance, he won the renowned Julliard School’s Composition Competition owing to his fugue composed in the style of JS Bach in 2003.
Garrett's 2008 album Encore pursues an aim of arousing young people’s interest in classical music. The release contains his own compositions and arrangements of pieces and melodies that have accompanied him in his life so far. In Autumn 2007, Garrett was chosen by the Montegrappa firm as an ambassador for the launch of the new pens from the Tributo ad Antonio Stradivari collection. The event took place in several venues, including in Rome, New York, Hong Kong, Berlin, and London. For these occasions Garrett was offered a Stradivarius from the Gli Archi di Palazzo Comunalecollection. He also appeared at the Royal Variety Performance on 5 December 2011, playing his cover of Nirvana’s "Smells Like Teen Spirit".
He joined the 9th annual Independent Music Awards judging panel to assist independent musicians' careers. His album, Music, was released in 2012. He played the lead role in the 2013 film The Devil's Violinist, as the noted 19th-century violinist Niccolò Paganini. The same year he released his album Garrett vs Paganini. His 2015 album Explosive includes the original compositions Innovation, Furious, Explosive, Unlimited Symphony, Serenity, Baroque fantasy, and Melancholia.
On 18 August 2017, David Garrett released the single "Bittersweet Symphony" as a teaser for his album Rock Revolution, released 17 September 2017.