ROBERT SMITH, MUSIC DIRECTOR
Robert T. Smith, III, Music Director, grew up playing viola and composing music in Spartanburg, SC. He was a member of the Spartanburg Symphony Orchestra and musical director for the city’s repertory opera company. Mr. Smith studied music composition with Ladislav Kubik and viola with Dr. Pamela Ryan at Florida State University. He performed with the University Symphony Orchestra, the FSU Opera Orchestra and the Tallahassee Symphony, working with guest conductors Robert Shaw, Robert Spano, and Gunther Schuller.
Mr. Smith also composed and performed his original scores for film projects at the FSU film school. Upon receiving his master's degree in music education, he taught for seven years in public and private schools in Atlanta, GA, while also serving as conductor of the Atlanta Philharmonic Orchestra. He has guest conducted with the Cheshire Symphony Orchestra and has performed on viola with the Manhattan Chamber Orchestra and the New Haven Chamber Orchestra. Mr. Smith is Director of Instrumental Music at Hopkins School in New Haven, the Yale Medical Symphony Orchestra, and the Senior Orchestra conductor at the Southern Maine Strings Camp.