Faculty
James Smart
Conductor James Smart has a broad repertoire in wind, orchestral, and opera works and is particularly interested in promoting new music. Mr. Smart is the newly appointed Director of Bands and Trumpet at the University of Montana where he will conduct the Symphonic Wind Ensemble, teach applied trumpet, conducting, and music education courses. He holds a Bachelor of Music from the University of Michigan and a Master of Music Education from Arizona State University where he is finishing a Doctorate of Musical Arts in Conducting. During his time at ASU he served as acting associate director of bands, acting director of the Arizona Contemporary Music Ensemble, co-music director of the ASU Lyric Opera Theater for the Western U.S. premier run of Joseph Turrin’s Scarecrow, and guest conductor on several occasions with the ASU Sinfonietta Orchestra. Mr. Smart’s conducting teachers include Gary Hill, William Reber, H. Robert Reynolds, Timothy Russell, Kevin Sedatole, and James Tapia. He has continued his conducting studies in workshops with Michael Christie, Michael Gielen, William Larue Jones, Kenneth Kiesler, Craig Kirchhoff, Allan McMurray, and Franck Ollu.
In September of 2007, Mr. Smart was invited to attend the International Ensemble Modern Academy in Schwaz, Austria and study under the tutelage of conductors, Michael Gielen and Franck Ollu, as well as the musicians of Ensemble Modern. The experience resulted in two public performances with IEMA at the Klangspuren New Music Festival in Schwaz and Innsbruck, Austria. Before coming to ASU to pursue his doctorate, he was Director of Bands and Brass Studies at Southern Utah University and Assistant Conductor/principal trumpet of the Orchestra of Southern Utah. While at SUU, Mr. Smart conducted the Symphony Band, brass ensemble, and athletic bands, and taught classes in advanced conducting, applied brass, and music education methods. In April of 2006, Mr. Smart conducted the SUU Wind Symphony in the world premier of Raag Mala: the music of India through Western ears by Pulitzer Prize winning composer Michael Colgrass. Mr. Smart organized the fully funded commission and composer residency.
Mr. Smart taught public school in Lapeer, MI, where his ensembles consistently received superior ratings at both district and state band festivals. He has conducted and/or adjudicated ensembles in Austria, Arizona, Idaho, Nevada, Michigan, Texas and Utah. He has also been a conductor with the International Ensemble Modern Academy (Schwaz, Austria), Conductors Retreat at Medomak (Washington, ME), the International Workshop for Orchestral Conducting (Graz, Austria), and the Band Conductors Art Symposium (Ann Arbor, MI).
A native of Coeur d’Alene, ID, Mr. Smart is thrilled to return to the Inland Northwest. He, his wife Amy, and son Benjamin live in Missoula.