Gregg Smith: The Man and His Music

Gregg Smith (b.1931) Music for Treble Voices:

I: Fear Not Good Shepherds from Bible Songs for Young Voices

II: Little Lamb from Songs of Innocence

The Cathedral Choristers of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, New York City.

Malcolm J. Merriweather, conductor

Gregg Smith (b. 1931) is an American conductor and composer admired for his contributions to the field of contemporary choral composition through interpretation, commissioning and recording. Smith earned a B.A. in music and M.A. in composition from the University of California at Los Angeles. His primary compositions teachers were Lukas Foss and Leonard Stein. His conducting and ensembles mentors were Raymond Moreman and Friz Zweig. Smith has served on the faculties at Ithaca College, the State University of New York at Stony Brook. Peabody Conservatory, Columbia University and Manhattan School of Music.
In 1955, Smith founded the Gregg Smith Singers in Los Angeles. Smith led the professional vocal ensemble for fifty seasons to much acclaim and success. The group has earned praise throughout the world through festivals, domestic tours and international residencies. A winner of 3 Grammy awards, Smith has recorded more than 100 albums with the Gregg Smith Singers.
Smith and his choir were responsible for many premieres of contemporary works, as well as revivals of early American music. Their repertoire has included the premieres of Igor Stravinsky's Requiem Canticles and William Duckworth's Southern Harmony; the complete choral works of Arnold Schoenberg and Elliott Carter; revivals of works by Charles Ives, William Billings and Victor Herbert; as well as pieces by Edwin London, Blas Galindo, Jorge Córdoba, Irving Fine, Morton Gould, William Schuman, Ned Rorem, and other twentieth century composers; and classics by Giovanni Gabrieli and Heinrich Schütz. In 1973, Smith furthered his commitment to American music by founding the Adirondack Festival of American Music in Saranac Lake, New York. The over thirty-four seasons, the festival featured a choral workshop for amateur musicians, choral-reading sessions for composers and concerts that featured notable composers from around the world.
Smith is an admired and prolific composer with over 400 choral, orchestral, theatre, and chamber works, many of which have published by G. Schirmer, Music 70, Laurendale and E.C. Schirmer. A recipient of numerous National Endowment for the Arts grants, Smith also boasts many commissions including the William Strickland commission for his Earth Requiem (1997).In 2001, Chorus America awarded Gregg Smith and his ensemble with the prestigious Margaret Hillis Award for choral excellence and in November 2003, the Composers Alliance gave him their Laurel Leave Award for distinguished achievement and fostering American music. In 2004, Chorus America presented Smith with the Louis Botto award for Entrepreneurial Spirit, “for a lifetime of devotion to choral music and unflagging creativity in find ways to bring it to a broader public, through outstanding performances, recordings, and the preservation and dissemination of choral manuscripts.”