RSO Blog  RSO Logowear

Guest Bios

Steven Smith - Conductor


Steven Smith has been named the new Music Director of the Richmond Symphony!


A native of Toledo, Ohio, Steven Smith has served as Music Director of the Santa Fe Symphony & Chorus since 1999. Previously he served in the capacity of Assistant Conductor of the Cleveland Orchestra where his role in arts education and family concerts received national attention. A violinist, Smith began his career as Concertmaster of the Grand Rapids Symphony and is a graduate of the Eastman School of Music and the Cleveland Institute of Music.

Steven Smith recently celebrated his eleventh season as Music Director of the Santa Fe Symphony & Chorus in 2009-10. He also serves as Music Director of the Grammy Award-winning Cleveland Chamber Symphony, an ensemble devoted to the performance of contemporary music. Since summer 2004, he has also conducted numerous orchestral and opera performances at the Brevard Music Festival.

From 1997 to 2003, Steven served as the Assistant Conductor of the Cleveland Orchestra, conducting concerts on the subscription series and at the Blossom Music Festival, in addition to educational and holiday programs. As Music Director of the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra, he appeared with them by invitation at Carnegie Hall.

Steven’s recent guest-conducting activities include appearances with the San Francisco Symphony, Puerto Rico Symphony, and Milwaukee Symphony, as well as numerous programs at Indiana University, including their production of Carlisle Floyd’s Susannah. Other recent opera productions include Susannah, Mozart’s The Magic Flute, and Bizet’s Carmen at the Brevard Music Festival, and Mozart’s Abduction from the Seraglio with Lyric Opera Cleveland. Orchestral guest conducting has included several seasons with New Zealand’s Auckland Philharmonia, the Detroit Symphony, Houston Symphony, New Mexico Symphony, Taiwan's National Symphony Orchestra, the Hong Kong Philharmonic, and Mexico's Orquesta Sinfónica de Xalapa. In addition, he has appeared with the orchestras of Akron, Colorado, Dayton, Hartford, Kalamazoo, Long Beach, Memphis, Santa Rosa and Toledo as well as at Carnegie-Mellon University and the Aspen Music Festival. He was honored to serve as conductor for the 2009 New Mexico All-State Orchestra.

Mr. Smith is also an active ASCAP award-winning composer. He was named 2008 Ohio Composer of the Year receiving a commission for a new string quartet which was premiered in November 2008. He has received commissions from the Cleveland Orchestra, Grand Rapids Symphony, Eugene Youth Symphony and solo artists. His interactive work Shake, Rattle and Roar has been performed by fifteen orchestras, including the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the National Symphony.

A native of Toledo, Ohio, Steven earned masters degrees from the Eastman School of Music and the Cleveland Institute of Music. He is also the recipient of the CIM Alumni Association 1999 Alumni Achievement Award.

Steven and his wife Stacia Lewandowski, also a musician, will move to the Richmond region in the coming months.