Jordan Randall Smith (born November 18, 1982) is an American conductor, arts entrepreneur, and percussionist. He is the music director of

Symphony Number One Symphony Number One (SNO) is a chamber orchestra primarily devoted to new music based in Baltimore, Maryland. SNO performs approximately concerts each year in musical venues in Mount Vernon, Baltimore, at Morgan State University, and across the ...

and conductor of the Hopkins Concert Orchestra at

Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hem ...

. He was also a Visiting assistant professor of Music and Director of Orchestra at

Susquehanna University Susquehanna University is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania. Its name is derived from the original Susquehannock settlers of the region. Founded in 1858 as a m ...

Early life and career

Smith was born in Dallas to professional musician parents: His father was a choir director and his mother was a pianist. He pursued percussion beginning at Mesquite High School. Smith developed a substantial interest in 20th and 21st century repertoire for chamber orchestra during his graduate studies, where he programmed Schoenberg's 3 Pieces for Chamber Orchestra of 1910. Smith has also worked as a music educator for a number of years across several different roles including the public schools. After studies at

Texas Tech University Texas Tech University (Texas Tech, Tech, or TTU) is a public research university in Lubbock, Texas. Established on , and called Texas Technological College until 1969, it is the main institution of the five-institution Texas Tech University Sys ...

, Smith was accepted to the

Peabody Institute The Peabody Institute of The Johns Hopkins University is a private conservatory and preparatory school in Baltimore, Maryland. It was founded in 1857 and opened in 1866 by merchant/financier and philanthropist George Peabody (1795–1869) ...

where he studied with

Gustav Meier Gustav, Gustaf or Gustave may refer to: *Gustav (name), a male given name of Old Swedish origin Art, entertainment, and media * ''Primeval'' (film), a 2007 American horror film * ''Gustav'' (film series), a Hungarian series of animated short cart ...

Markand Thakar Markand Thakar (born 1955, New York City) is an American conductor. He is music director of Baltimore Chamber Orchestra (BCO). Biography From the age of six, Markand Thakar attended the Juilliard School's Pre-College Division, where he was a pian ...

, and

Marin Alsop Marin Alsop ( �mɛər.ɪn ˈæːl.sɑːp born October 16, 1956) is an American conductor, the first woman to win the Koussevitzky Prize for conducting and the first conductor to be awarded a MacArthur Fellowship. She is music director laureate ...

. He has guest conducted a number of ensembles and orchestras in public performances including the East Texas Symphony Orchestra, York Symphony Orchestra, and Alia Musica Pittsburgh.

Dallas Festival of Modern Music

In 2009, Smith co-founded the Dallas festival of Modern Music with colleague Ryan Ross. DFMM served the Dallas community with music from 2009 to 2011, opening its first season with the music of Schoenberg. In its second year, the festival expanded to a full ten days of concerts, recitals, and educational programs. The second season included a number of prominent guest artists including Christopher Deane and Paul Rennick. DFMM was recognized for innovative programming and original presentations, receiving a TACA grant.

Symphony Number One

In September 2014, Smith began laying the groundwork for a chamber orchestra in Baltimore. In May 2015,

made its debut at the Baltimore War Memorial. As music director of Symphony Number One, Smith was selected as a 2016 Baltimore Social Innovation Fellow. Symphony Number One has garnered several awards including 2019 Winner of

The American Prize The American Prize is a set of annual nonprofit national competitions in the performing arts which recognizes and rewards commercial and noncommercial recorded performances of classical music in the United States based on submitted applications. T ...

in Orchestral Performance. Smith also received 2nd Place in the 2019 American Prize competition in the conducting division.

Other Activity

In April 2018, Smith assumed duties as music director at Hunt's Memorial United Methodist Church in

Towson, Maryland Towson () is an unincorporated community and a census-designated place in Baltimore County, Maryland, United States. The population was 55,197 as of the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Baltimore County and the second-most populous unincorpo ...

. Smith was formerly the music director of Govans Presbyterian Church in Baltimore. Smith has recorded a number of albums and EP's. He founded SNOtone Records as a boutique label for the production of the music of Symphony Number One. Smith previously self-released two titles. Smith occasionally contributes to the magazine ''

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

'' and the weblog Sequenza21. While not a published scholar, some of Smith's academic writings have been cited in published works. More recently, Smith has become involved in work to share information on the music of composer

Florence Price Florence Beatrice Price (née Smith; April 9, 1887 – June 3, 1953) was an American classical music, classical composer, pianist, organist and music teacher. Born in Little Rock, Arkansas, Price was educated at the New England Conservatory of Mus ...

. This has led to the inception of the International Florence Price Festival, planned for launch in 2020. In October 2017, Smith gave a "TED talk," speaking at TEDxMidAtlantic 2017 to positive reviews.

Discography

* 2017: ''

Approaching ''Approaching'' is the fourth live album by contemporary classical chamber orchestra Symphony Number One Symphony Number One (SNO) is a chamber orchestra primarily devoted to new music based in Baltimore, Maryland. SNO performs approximately c ...

'': Martha Horst: ''Straussian Landscapes''; Hangrui Zhang: ''Baltimore Prelude''; Nicholas Bentz: ''Approaching Eternity''. (

SNOtone SNOtone is an independent record label founded in Baltimore, Maryland, in 2015 by Jordan Randall Smith. The label's catalogue is devoted to classical and contemporary classical music. SNOtone is a custom imprint for recordings by Symphony Numb ...

) * 2016: ''

More More or Mores may refer to: Computing * MORE (application), outline software for Mac OS * more (command), a shell command * MORE protocol, a routing protocol * Missouri Research and Education Network Music Albums * ''More!'' (album), by Booka ...

'':

Natalie Draper Natalie Draper is an American composer who teaches composition at Syracuse University's Setnor School of Music. Biography Draper completed her Doctor of Musical Arts at the Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University in 2017. Her teachers incl ...

: ''Timelapse Variations'';

Jonathan Russell Jonathan Russell (February 27, 1771 – February 17, 1832) was a United States representative from Massachusetts and diplomat. He served the 11th congressional district from 1821 to 1823 and was the first chair of the House Committee on Foreig ...

: ''Light Cathedral''; Andrew Posner: ''The Promised Burning''. (

) * 2016: ''

Emergence In philosophy, systems theory, science, and art, emergence occurs when an entity is observed to have properties its parts do not have on their own, properties or behaviors that emerge only when the parts interact in a wider whole. Emergence ...

'': Andrew M. Boss: Concerto for

Saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to pr ...

and Small

Chamber Orchestra Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small numbe ...

, feat. Sean Meyers - alto saxophone. (SNOtone) * 2015: ''

'':

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition r ...

Concerto for Flute, Harp, and Orchestra (Mozart) The Concerto for Flute, Harp, and Orchestra in C major, K. 299/297c, is a concerto by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart for flute, harp, and orchestra. It is one of only two true double concertos that he wrote (the other being his Piano Concerto No. 10 ...

, feat. Raoul Cho, Jordan Thomas;

Gabriel Fauré Gabriel Urbain Fauré (; 12 May 1845 – 4 November 1924) was a French composer, organist, pianist and teacher. He was one of the foremost French composers of his generation, and his musical style influenced many 20th-century composers ...

: Pavane; Mark Fromm: Symphony No. 1, feat. Hanul Park – bassoon. (SNOtone) * 2014: ''Rhapsody: Music for Cello and Orchestra'': Andrew M. Boss: Concerto for

Cello The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a Bow (music), bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), t ...

and

Orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, c ...

, feat. Dmitri Volkov - cello. (Self-Produced) * 2013: “Pierrot Lunaire”: Arnold Schoenberg:

Pierrot Lunaire ''Dreimal sieben Gedichte aus Albert Girauds "Pierrot lunaire"'' ("Three times Seven Poems from Albert Giraud's 'Pierrot lunaire), commonly known simply as ''Pierrot lunaire'', Op. 21 ("Moonstruck Pierrot" or "Pierrot in the Moonlight"), is a me ...

, feat. Jessica Abel, sprechstimme. (Self-Produced)

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Jordan Randall 1982 births Living people American male conductors (music) Musicians from Dallas 20th-century American conductors (music) 21st-century American conductors (music) Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Classical musicians from Texas 20th-century American male musicians 21st-century American male musicians Mesquite High School (Texas) alumni