Garth Stevenson is a double bassist and composer raised in the mountains of Western Canada, where nature became his primary inspiration and the common thread between his life and music. His three solo albums—Alpine, Flying, and Voyage—reflect his experiences carrying his 150-year-old double bass to remote locations including woods, beaches, deserts, Antarctica, and Tuva. During his month-long journey to Antarctica in 2010 aboard the icebreaker Ushuaia, joined by author Cormac McCarthy, actress Juliette Binoche, and renowned whale researcher Roger Payne, Stevenson played his double bass among seals, penguins, and icebergs. One evening during a four-day crossing, he gave a concert at sunset on the ship’s bow, improvising and imitating whale calls on his bass—minutes later, twelve sei whales swam alongside the vessel. His connection to whales and conservation has continued for over fifteen years. In 2025, he traveled to Baja, Mexico, to play bass for humpback whales, connecting his instrument to an underwater speaker and using hydrophones to create an environment where he could hear the whales and they could hear his music, opening up true call-and-response documented by National Geographic. As a film composer, Garth recently worked on Bob Marley: One Love and has composed scores for films including Tracks, Chappaquiddick, Red Knot (in which he also acted), and documentaries including Seed: The Untold Story and Resilience. For ten years, Stevenson has led Music Meditation Hikes, carrying his double bass on his back to guide groups to beautiful natural locations, improvising music that blends with the environment. He attended Berklee College of Music on a full scholarship and has recorded on over 50 albums.
Why their voice matters: Garth Stevenson’s voice matters because he demonstrates that music can be a language for interspecies communication and connection with the living world, from twelve sei whales responding to his bass imitating whale calls at sunset in Antarctica to humpback whales engaging in call-and-response through underwater speakers in Baja. By carrying his 150-year-old double bass to remote locations and creating music that blends with natural environments—woods, deserts, icebergs, oceans—Stevenson shows that artistic expression can serve conservation, using his whale collaborations to build support for Marine Protected Areas against deep-sea mining and industrial fishing. His Music Meditation Hikes and performances for 13,000 people in Central Park prove that bringing music into nature creates experiences that transform how people relate to both art and environment, revealing that the boundary between human creativity and wild inspiration is permeable when we listen deeply to what the living world has to say.
