Robert W. Smith

Robert W. Smith is an American composer, arranger, and teacher. He was born in the small town of Daleville, Alabama in 1958 .[citation needed] He attended high school in Daleville, after which he left for Troy State University, where he played lead trumpet in the Sound of the South Marching Band.[citation needed] While at Troy, he studied composition with Dr. Paul Yoder.

Upon his graduation from Troy State with a Bachelor of Music Education degree, Smith pursued his musical career in South Florida, where he earned the Master's degree in Media Writing and Production from the University of Miami, while studying with Dr. Alfred Reed.[citation needed] He was soon hired by Columbia Pictures Publications and later Warner Bros./Belwin Publications.[1] Smith's career with Warner Bros. continued until 2005, when it was bought out by Alfred Publications.[citation needed]

In 1997, Smith returned to Troy, Alabama to become the Director of Bands at Troy State University, following the retirement of his old band director, Dr. Long. Smith would remain at Troy for four years, directing the Sound of the South Marching Band and the Symphony Band.[2] In 2001, he left Troy to take a more full-time position with Warner Brothers Publications.[citation needed] His position with Warner since leaving Troy has taken him all over the world, acting as guest conductor and clinician with many ensembles.

Currently, Smith has over 600 published works, including two symphonies. Symphony No. 1, The Divine Comedy, was inspired by Dante's epic, while Symphony No. 2, The Odyssey, was inspired by the Greek epic of the same name.[3] Among Smith's most highly-acclaimed works is 12 Seconds to the Moon, which depicts man's dream and ultimate reality of conquering flight. In ten minutes of fanfares, chorales, and a portrayal of the Wright brothers' workshop, the audience is taken from the beginnings of flight up to the rocket age of space travel.[citation needed]

Smith has also composed two works dedicated to solo instruments–-contemporary concertos for the flute family and the euphonium--entitled Gemeinhardt Suite, and Willson Suite respectively.[citation needed]

Smith's piece entitled "Encanto" is one of the most known among developing bands. It's very transitive. It begins with a brass fanfare and moves into an overture.[citation needed]

Perhaps Smith's best known piece is "Into The Storm", which was written to commemorate the powerful 1993 winter storm that brutalized the eastern United States. This piece is often worked into various themes and reset in different ensembles such as a version played by an orchestra, substituting the flute ostinato as a violin part; or otherwise used as a part of a marching band show (See Sandy Creek Marching Band).[citation needed] Additionally, the middle section that is slow and triumphant at the end, is an arrangement of the Fraternity Hymn of Kappa Kappa Psi. Smith himself is a brother of the fraternity, having been initiated into the Zeta Upsilon chapter at then Troy State University in April 1977.

In addition to composing for bands, Smith has enjoyed much success writing for the drum and bugle corps. His first great success came in the mid-1980s while he was writing for the Suncoast Sound, from Clearwater, Florida -- a tenure which included Suncoast's 1985 program, "A Florida Suite," the first completely original musical program ever done by a drum corps.[4] He would later go on to write for Magic of Orlando for several years. Until 2007, he wrote for the Glassmen Drum and Bugle Corps, of Toledo, Ohio. Around 2002, Robert and his wife Susan L. Smith began to work on a new project, writing a fully integrated music curriculum that would begin in elementary school and take students all the way through high school. A design team of several of the best music educators was assembled, and the result was Music Expressions.[5]

Before the beginning of the 2006–2007 school year, Troy University announced the re-hiring of Smith to the position of Coordinator of the Music Industry program.[6] On December 14, 2006, Smith announced his appointment as Director of Product Development for the C. L. Barnhouse Company, and an exclusive publishing arrangement with the firm, effective January 1, 2007.[7]

His wife, Susan Smith is currently the band director of the Saint James band.