Steven Smith, Assistant Conductor of the Cleveland Orchestra, to Join Oberlin Faculty by Marci Janas '91
	Related Articles: Steven Smith Biography About the Oberlin Conservatory Orchestras		Assistant Conductor of the Cleveland Orchestra Steven Smith is joining the faculty of the Oberlin Conservatory of Music at Oberlin College. Robert K. Dodson, dean of the Conservatory, announced that Smith would be a visiting associate professor of conducting and the music director of the Oberlin Conservatory orchestras effective July 1, 2002. "I am very pleased that Steven Smith has agreed to join our faculty," says Dodson. "His experience with professional musicians of the highest caliber--as well as emerging musicians--prepares him wonderfully for leading the Oberlin Conservatory's orchestral program. We are delighted to welcome him." Smith has been The Cleveland Orchestra's assistant conductor for the last five seasons, helping to plan and conduct educational and family concerts as well as assisting Music Director Christoph von Dohnányi prepare the orchestra's winter concerts, acting as a cover conductor, and helping oversee the production of broadcasts for The Cleveland Orchestra Radio Network. He also appears as conductor for concerts on the orchestra's subscription series, at the Blossom Festival, and on the Christmas programs. His conducting has garnered admiration from music critic Donald Rosenberg, author of a book on The Cleveland Orchestra. Writing in The Plain Dealer, Rosenberg praised Smith's leadership of the orchestra in Shostakovich's Symphony No. 5: "[He] led a gripping, authoritative performance that beautifully conveyed the score's uncompromising personality...Smith's concept gave a brilliant and clear idea of what the composer had in mind, and the orchestra provided playing of consummate elegance, tonal depth, and bold intensity." This summer, Smith will conduct two concerts with The Cleveland Orchestra at Blossom Music Center--an all-Mozart offering on July 20 and an evening of arias, French cabaret songs, and divertissement featuring mezzo-soprano Susan Graham on July 21. Earlier in the month, on July 10, he will conduct the Aspen Concert Orchestra at the Aspen Music Festival. Throughout the fall and winter season he will continue to conduct The Cleveland Orchestra, the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra, and the Santa Fe Symphony; he serves as music director of the latter two ensembles.
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