He is a bassoonist who obtained degrees in the arts from Carnegie Mellon University and Temple University. He also studied with the Philadelphia Orchestra’s Daniel Matsukawa and the Pittsburgh Symphony’s Nancy Goeres.
After his studies he became the second bassoonist with the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia and in 2000 he was the Principal Bassoon with the Utah Festival Opera Company staying in that post with them for five years and later went on to appear with the Kennedy Center Orchestra in 2007. He has also performed with the Pennsylvania Bellet Orchestra and the Philadelphia Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra.
Recently he has held the position of Principal Bassoon with the Academy of Vocal Arts Orchestra, been the Director of Development & Special Projects Director of the Marlboro Music Festival and Director of Development with the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society and is a substitute for the Philadelphia Orchestra.
He has appeared on recordings that include Verdi: Requiem with the Ama Deus Ensemble and Scelsi: Orchestral Works, 1 with the Carnegie Mellon Philharmonic and Choir.
On the business side of things, he has been involved in arts management and internet marketing and he and his wife, the oboist Meghan Bennett Smith, established the internet consulting and web development company Whiteboard Media in 2002.
In the field of musical education he is a bassoon lecturer on the faculty of Temple Univerity’s Boyer College of Music and Dance.
Sources:
- http://www.linkedin.com/in/jacobsmith79
- http://www.temple.edu/boyer/AppDev/port.asp?portID=604
- http://www.medieval.org/music/modern/cds/mod95.html
- http://www.chamberorchestra.org/main.cfm?page=musicians
- http://www.lyrichord.com/linernotes/LYRCD6008US.pdf
- http://www.newworldrecords.org/uploads/filest7VN.pdf
- http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=41:158087~T3