James Austin Smith, oboe
Praised for his “confident and controlled” performances by the Boston Globe and his “assured, polished and beautifully nuanced” chamber music collaborations by the New York Times, New York-based oboist James Austin Smith is an active chamber musician and new music advocate. Mr. Smith is the newest member of the International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE) and oboist of Sospiro Winds, the Metropolis Ensemble and Ensemble ACJW; he is a frequent collaborator with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra. Mr. Smith is a fellow of Ensemble ACJW and "The Academy" - a collaboration of Carnegie Hall, The Juilliard School and the Weill Music Institute; the fellowship involves chamber music performances at Carnegie Hall and Juilliard as well as work as a teaching artist in a New York City public school.
In addition to regular performances with Ensemble ACJW at Carnegie Hall, the Metropolis Ensemble and Sospiro Winds, the 2008-2009 season brings performances with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra at Carnegie Hall and on tour, with ICE in New York, Chicago, Boston and at the Musica Nova Festival in Helsinki, with the St. Luke's Chamber Ensemble, as soloist with the Manhattan Sinfonietta, and chamber music recitals at Bargemusic and at OK Mozart with members of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. Mr. Smith spent the summer of 2008 at the Marlboro Music School and Festival and will continue his studies there in the summer of 2009.
Mr. Smith is an avid performer of new music - aside from his performances with ICE and Ensemble ACJW he has worked extensively with Pierre Boulez and John Adams, and in 2008 performed Elliott Carter's Oboe Quartet and Sonata for Flute, Oboe, Cello and Harpsichord with Speculum Musicae for the composer. He has appeared at the Lucerne, Schleswig-Holstein, Schwetzingen and Spoleto USA festivals.
Mr. Smith received his Master of Music degree from the Yale School of Music under the tutelage of Stephen Taylor. He completed both his Bachelor of Arts (Political Science) and Bachelor of Music at Northwestern University in 2005 as a student of Ray Still. He spent the following year as a Fulbright Scholar in Leipzig, Germany where he studied with Christian Wetzel at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater "Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy." While studying in Leipzig, Mr. Smith co-directed a concert of German and American musicians and performed as a guest recitalist at the residence of the American General Consul to Leipzig. Mr. Smith was a pre-college student of Humbert Lucarelli at the Hartt School in Hartford and has also worked extensively with Hansjörg Schellenberger.
The son of musician parents and eldest of four boys, Mr. Smith was born in New York and raised in Connecticut. For more information please visit www.jamesaustinsmith.com.
