Biography

Jordan P. Smith is a New York based saxophonist and conductor. His teachers have included Dr. Paul Cohen, Dr. John Sampen and Kathleen Mitchell, as well as Dr. William Silvester for conducting.

In the summer of 2007, Jordan traveled to Corfu, Greece where he gave several performances of solo and chamber works, and premiered Evolutions by Marilyn Shrude for the Corfu Festival Saxophone Ensemble. He was winner of the 2006-2007 Concerto Competition at The College of New Jersey (TCNJ) and later performed Tomasi’s Ballade for Saxophone and Orchestra with the TCNJ Orchestra. Mr. Smith was also a selected soloist for the 2008 New York Summer Music Festival (NYSMF) recital series and a featured soloist with the NYSMF saxophone ensemble.

Recently Jordan has performed multiple times with The New World Symphony, The MSM Orchestra, the Brooklyn College Orchestra, and the French Woods Orchestra. Recent performance venues have included the Metropolitan Museum of Art, St. Peters Citigroup Center in NYC, Knight Concert Hall at the Adrienne Arsht Center, the Professional Children’s School, Yale University, and the 2009 North American Saxophone Alliance Region 8 conference at West Virginia University.

As an orchestral player Mr. Smith has performed works by Ravel, Prokofiev, Copland, Bernstein, Gershwin, and more under such conductors as Michael Tilson Thomas, Robert Spano, and H. Robert Reynolds. As a chamber musician in New York City, he has premiered works by composers such as Hayes Biggs, Remy Le Boeuf, Ayanna Witter-Johnson and Matthew Hough.

Upcoming premieres include two commissioned quartet works by composers Marc Consoli and Robert McMahan to be premiered in the 2010-2011 season. Past season commissions and premieres included the Sonata for Tenor Saxophone and Piano by Steve Cohen, Reverie, Interrupted by James Adler, and PollyPiano by Tamar Cashour, and the premiere recording of Inhyun Kim's Saxophone Quartet, released on Carrier Records.

Jordan P. Smith is currently a D.M.A. candidate at Mason Gross School of the Arts, Rutgers University, where he studies with Dr. Paul Cohen. He holds an M.M. degree in Saxophone Performance from Manhattan School of Music and a B.M. in Music Education from The College of New Jersey. Mr. Smith has appeared as guest saxophonist with the Ridgewood Concert Band and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. He is currently on faculty at the French Woods Festival for the Performing Arts where he teaches theory, conducts the saxophone ensemble, and is the private saxophone instructor. Mr. Smith is also a faculty member of the Mason Gross School of the Arts Extension Division, where he teaches saxophone.

Equipment

Soprano Saxophone:
Yamaha YSS-875 EX, Gold Plated M1 Neck, Caravan Large Chamber Mouthpiece, Rovner Dark Ligature

Alto Saxophone:
Yanagisawa A992 Bronze Body, Caravan Large Chamber Mouthpiece, Vandoren Leather Ligature

Tenor Saxophone:
Yamaha YTS-875 EX, Caravan Large Chamber Mouthpiece, Vandoren Leather Ligature

Education

Doctor of Musical Arts (D.M.A.), Performance
Mason Gross School of the Arts, Rutgers University
May 2013

Master of Music (M.M.), Performance
Manhattan School of Music
May 2010

Bachelor of Music (B.M.), Music Education
The College of New Jersey (TCNJ)
May 2008

Teaching Positions

Youth Orchestra of Central Jersey
Saxophone Choir and Ensemble Director
(Fall 2010 – present)

Mason Gross School of the Arts Extension Division, Rutgers University
Saxophone Faculty
(Fall 2010 – present)

Hunterdon Academy of the Arts
Saxophone Teacher – view profile
(Fall 2010 – present)

French Woods Festival of the Performing Arts
Saxophone Ensemble Director, Saxophone Instructor, Theory Instructor
(2009 – present)

Cicely L. Tyson Community School of Fine & Performing Arts
Saxophone Ensemble Director
(Fall 2010 – present)