I began writing music when I was seven . . . having started piano lessons the previous year. I distinctly remember the new piano arriving on my sixth birthday. My mother, although she didn’t play the piano, knew enough to put some tape on keys that I should push, and almost instantly, I was able to make some music. I was hooked!
Throughout my life, I have always been an active performer. The piano has been my constant instrument. Around the age of 10 or 11, I added the organ, and it was as an organ major that I was accepted into Juilliard. In fact, I was a very serious and promising organist who was building an active concert and church music career. However, composition became my primary focus, and after finishing my B.M. at Juilliard (having completed the undergraduate requirements for both organ and composition), my graduate degrees were both in composition.
I regret it now, but after my graduation recital in the spring of 1977, I more or less stopped playing the organ aside from some church jobs that enabled me to earn enough money to pay for my honeymoon in 1978. Instead, I became a composer who loved to conduct and perform as a pianist. Nobody ever wanted to hear me conduct Mahler or play Chopin, but my performance abilities proved to be useful tools in building my life as a composer.
This page is going to feature recordings where I am the conductor, pianist, or organist . . . and not the composer. There are numerous recordings waiting to be reviewed and included. Look for additions as my website continues to expand.
March 11, 2024 – The first three recordings will enable me to mark the passing of my mother (my first piano teacher per the story above!) on March 16, 1981. 43 years ago . . . very hard to believe. Three months after her death, my wife, my brother-in-law, and a dear friend gave two benefit concerts in Canton, Ohio for The American Cancer Society. I would like to share two pages from the program, including my “open letter.” There have been remarkable strides in cancer research and treatment, but despite the progress, family members and friends continue to be diagnosed with various forms of cancer, and our collective battle continues.
The following three pieces were among those performed:
Johann Sebastian Bach: “Erbarme dich” from the St. Matthew Passion.
Hélène Delavault, mezzo-soprano
Peter Oundjian, violin
Larry Alan Smith, piano
Robert Schumann (arranged by Claude Debussy): Studies in the Form of a Canon
IV. Espressivo
V. Pas trop vite
Marguerita Oundjian Smith, piano
Larry Alan Smith, piano
Heitor Villa-Lobos: Three Songs
Tu passaste por este jardim
Serenata
Xango
Hélène Delavault, mezzo-soprano
Larry Alan Smith, piano
This recording includes Hélène’s descriptions of the texts used in these songs.
For more information about Hélène Delavault, please click here.
For more information about Peter Oundjian, please visit www.peteroundjian.com.
For more information about Marguerita Oundjian Smith, please visit www.margueritaoundjiansmith.com.
Larry Alan Smith 