He is a clarinettist born in California who studied at Northwestern University and became Principal Clarinet with the Sacramento Symphony Orchestra, the Ravinia Festival Orchestra and the Scotia Festival Symphony Orchestra and Associate Principal and E-flat clarinetist with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra. He was appointed a member of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra by Sir Georg Solti in 1983.
As a chamber musician he is a founder of the Chamber Soloists of Chicago, who he has toured nationally with, and with the Chicago Symphony Winds has been nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Chamber Music Performances Performance. He has been a collaborator with the Lincoln Center Chamber Players and been a guest artist at Bay Chamber Concerts with the Vermeer Quartet.
A participant in music festivals he has taught and performed in Tokyo, Japan at the Affinis Music Festival as well as back home in the USA at the Las Vegas Music Festival. He also toured Australia giving solo recitals and was Artist-in-Residence at the Victorian College of the Arts in Melbourne.
Recordings he has performed on include Mozart: Music for Basset Horns by Members of the Chicago Symphony Winds, Corigliano: Symphony No. 1, Arnold Schonberg: Verklarte Nacht Op. 4/Piano Pieces Op. 11 & 19/Five Orchestral Pieces Op. 16, Wagner: Overtures and Preludes, Carter/Berio/Takemitsu: Partita-Continuo-Visions, Brahms: Violin Concert/Sonata No. 3 and the film soundtrack to Lincoln by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Braver Newer World by Jimmie Dale Gilmore.
In the field of musical education he was on the faculty of the Chicago College of Performing Arts from 1983 until 2013. He has also been a visiting professor at the University of Michigan and Northwestern University, lectured at the International Clarinet Associations yearly ClarinetFest conferences and held many master classes nationally and internationally.
He started his own Gregory Smith Clarinet Products Inc. in 1995 which are personally hand sculpted clarinet mouthpieces.
He performs here…
Sources:
- http://www.gregory-smith.com/
- https://cso.org/about/performers/cso-musicians/woodwinds/clarinet/gregory-smith/
- https://www.buffet-crampon.com/artist/gregory-smith-2/
- https://www.discogs.com/artist/4262576-Gregory-Smith-4
- https://www.clarinetsdirect.net/store/p229/Gregory-Smith-Clarinet-Mouthpiece.html#/
- https://www.roosevelt.edu/academics/faculty/profile/gsmith