Garten was a curator in 2006 at an exhibit in the Echigo Tsumari Triennial in Japan, the largest international art exhibit in Japan. In addition to his art curation at the Triennial, he wrote compositions that were inspired by his study of local folk music, which he performed in a solo piano concert in Hachi, Japan. He later performed these works in another solo piano concert at the Japan Foundation, Toronto. Garten performed an hour-long solo piano improvised concert at the Tenri Cultural Institute in 2010. He was also a member of the Board of Directors of The Music Gallery, one of Toronto's premier New Music performance venues.
