Smith, Gregg
Smith, Gregg
Smith, Gregg , American conductor and composer; b. Chicago, Aug. 21, 1931. He studied composition with Leonard Stein, Lukas Foss, and Ray Moreman and conducting with Fritz Zweig at the Univ. of Calif, at Los Angeles (M.A., 1956). In 1955 in Los Angeles he founded the Gregg Smith Singers, a chamber choir, with which he toured and recorded extensively; from 1970, was active with it in N.Y. He also taught at Ithaca Coll., the State Univ. of N.Y. at Stony Brook, the Peabody Cons. of Music in Baltimore, Barnard Coll., and the Manhattan School of Music in N.Y. His repertoire extends from early music to works by contemporary American composers. He ed. the Gregg Smith Choral Series. Smith wrote much vocal music, including 2 operas, choral works, songs, and pieces for chamber orch.
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire