When Garrett was four years old, his father bought a violin for his older brother. The young Garrett took an interest and soon learned to play. A year later, he took part in a competition and won first prize. By the age of seven, he studied violin at the Lübeck Conservatoire,[3] and by the age of 12, Garrett began working with the distinguished Polish violinist Ida Haendel, often traveling to London and other European cities to meet her.[4] After leaving home at 17, he enrolled in the Royal College of Music in London,[5] leaving after the first semester. On being asked in an interview if he was expelled, Garrett responded: "Well expelled wasn't the official term… It was mutually agreed that me and the RCM were going separate ways after the first semester. I did skip some lessons – but I also broke in to do extra practice, so that didn't help!"[6] In 1999 he moved to New York to attend the Juilliard School, in 2003 winning the Composition Competition of Juilliard School with a fugue composed in the style of Johann Sebastian Bach.[1] While at Juilliard he studied under Itzhak Perlman, one of the first to do so,[4] and graduated in 2004.