Patrick Smith
Assistant professor
Music history, French horn
Phone: (804) 827-0374
E-mail: psmith7@vcu.edu
Office: Singleton Center, Room B-30
www.vcuhornstudio.vcu.edu
An internationally acclaimed horn player, music educator, lecturer and clinician, Patrick Smith actively challenges and stimulates students in both performance and academic settings. He is the director of the Horn Choir at VCU where he also teaches applied horn lessons and coaches chamber music ensembles. In addition to his duties related to horn performance, Smith is the area coordinator for music history and director of athletic bands.
Smith is a native of Gainesville, Fla. He attended the University of Florida at Gainesville for his undergraduate and doctoral studies, earning a Bachelor of Music Education degree, Doctor of Philosophy degree, and Performer’s Certificate. Additionally, Smith earned a Master of Music degree in horn performance from the Hartt School of Music in Hartford, Conn. His teachers include David Jolley and Paul Basler (horn), and Kenneth Nott and David Z. Kushner (music history).
Smith is an alumnus of the Aspen and Brevard music festivals and has performed with numerous professional ensembles, including the North Carolina, Tallahassee, Gainesville, Valdosta, Florida West Coast, Lynchburg, Va., and Ridgefield, Conn., symphony orchestras, the American Chamber Winds and the Carolina Wind Quintet. He has appeared as a soloist with the Emerson String Quartet, the Hartford Brass Quintet and the Gainesville Symphony. Smith made his Carnegie Hall debut as a conductor and performer in March 2008.
Smith has been an active member of the International Horn Society since 1993 and is currently the Virginia representative for the organization. Recent performances include the 2008 Northeast Horn Workshop and the 37th International Horn Symposium. He is a member of MENC, the National Association of Collegiate Wind and Percussion Instructors, the International Association of Jazz Educators, the American Musicological Society and the College Music Society. Recent scholarly engagements include paper presentations at the 2008 Lionel Hampton Jazz History and Culture Conference, the 6th Annual International Conference on Arts and Humanities and the 2006 Southeast Horn Workshop. An expert on Jazz Horn history and repertoire, Smith is the author of the text “Julius Watkins and the Evolution of the Jazz French Horn Genre” and actively promotes awareness of this rare, yet increasingly popular artistic medium.
Smith has recorded for the Mark Custom and Capstone record labels with the American Chamber Winds and the New England New Music Ensemble respectively. Smith performs on the Wilson CS240 Kruspe model horn and is a Wilson Performing Artist. He has served on the faculties of the Eastern Music Festival, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and is currently assistant professor of horn and music history at VCU. He resides in Richmond, Va., with his wife and fellow horn player, Kristin.
