Oona Garthwaite

Oona Garthwaite teaches voice, piano, guitar, and songwriting. She has been singing and playing music with her family for as long as she can remember. She started by singing and playing piano, and picked up guitar in college while studying in Spain. She graduated from UCLA with a Bachelor of Arts in Cultural Studies.

She has written and recorded nearly a hundred songs and has heard her music featured on shows like So You Think You Can Dance and in movies like Batkid Begins. Her music even traveled to the Olympics, when a Canadian synchronized swimming duo performed to a medley of her songs in Rio in 2016.

She has performed with her band at all kinds of cool venues, including The Fox Theater in Oakland and The Fillmore in San Francisco. She has taught music one-on-one to students of all ages, with a focus on music theory for beginners; in classrooms at Saints Peter and Paul School in SF; and in intensive workshops and band settings at Bay Area Girls Rock Camp.

She believes creativity is our natural state, and that curiosity is the most powerful tool we have to lead a fulfilling life. When she’s not making music, you can find her gardening, writing stories, and learning how to do those things better.

1.Alive or dead: What musician would you do anything to see perform/meet?

Aretha Franklin

2. Greatest musical influence?

I want to say Meshell Ndegeocello, but probably my dad.

3. Any hidden talents besides music?

I’m a pretty good filmmaker for someone with no budgets

4. What did you want to be while you were growing up?

“Artist,” is what I wrote down when I was six. It never really changed.

5. If you could have any ‘Super Power’, which one would it be?

Automatically being perfectly hydrated and rested at all times

6. If you could master any other instrument which would it be?

Violin, or maybe drums.

7. Have you had what people would consider your “15 Minutes of Fame”, and if so when/what was that?

Season 6, Week 6, So You Think You Can Dance: Sonya Tayeh chose my song, “Tore My Heart” to choreograph a piece for Ellenore Scott and Jakob Karr. It was a weird time in music, a brief window where the iPod had replaced CDs but Spotify hadn’t launched yet. “Tore My Heart” charted on iTunes, and to this day is my most-listened to song. But the best part for me was on the night that it broadcast, when an old friend from high school with whom I’d had a falling out texted me that she watched it with her son, who was singing along.

8. It’s your last meal: What would it be?

Pesto pasta with some kind of delightful summer veg accompaniment. There will be cheese.

9. You’re sent to a deserted island, and you only have one album to listen to: Which is it?

In high school, it was The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill. The cassette didn’t leave my tape deck. Now, I’m not sure. Maybe Andromeda and the Milky Way – Meshell Ndegeocello.

10. If you could leave one lesson with your students what would it be?

At the end of the day, everyone is self-taught. The most powerful tool we have is our own curiosity.