Biography
Christian Smith has been a faculty member with the BYU School of Music since 1997. In addition to his responsibilities as the bassoon professor, he conducts the Symphony Orchestra, teaches instrumental conducting, coaches chamber music, and regularly performs with Orpheus Winds, the resident faculty wind quintet. He is also a member of the Sundance Trio, which will soon be releasing their second CD with Centaur Records.
An active orchestral musician, Dr. Smith has played under such conductors as Robert Shaw, Raymond Leppard, John Williams, Joseph Silverstein, Maxim Shostakovich, Keith Lockhart, Thierry Fischer, Mack Wilberg, Craig Jessop, and others. Additionally, he has performed with the Utah Symphony and Opera, Utah Chamber Orchestra (Ballet West), Toledo Symphony, Ann Arbor Symphony, Flint (MI) Symphony, Michigan Chamber Players, Utah Chamber Artists, Colors of the Baroque, and the Canyon Winds woodwind quintet. Currently he is principal bassoonist with the Orchestra at Temple Square in Salt Lake City. As a studio musician, he has recorded on the Telarc, Biddulph, Tantara, Prima, Shadow Mountain, and Mormon Tabernacle Choir record labels, as well as for numerous film and television scores.
From 1993-1997, he served as Coordinator of Woodwind Studies at Ricks College (Rexburg, Idaho) where he founded the Ricks College Chamber Winds ensemble and frequently conducted the Symphony and Chamber Orchestras. His most influential teachers/mentors have been Clyn Barrus (BYU), Glenn Williams (BYU), and Richard Beene (University of Michigan).
He and his wife, Patricia, are the parents of nine children.