Lloyd Smith
Contributor
BSR Contributor Since March 6, 2007
After 36 years as a cellist with thye Philadelphia Orchestra, Lloyd Smith retired in 2003 to devote himself to composing and chamber music.
Lloyd Smith, cellist and composer, has been a member of The Philadelphia Orchestra since 1967. He became assistant principal cello in 1988 and was its acting associate principal cellist before retiring in 2003 to devote himself to chamber music and composing. He has been cellist of the Wister Quartet since its founding in 1987 and a member of 1807 & Friends chamber ensemble since 1992. He is also a member of the Barnard Trio, the Florian Trio, the Smitholm Duo, and the Amerita Chamber Players.
He is a graduate of The Curtis Institute of Music, where his teachers were Leonard Rose and Orlando Cole. He has participated in the Marlboro Music Festivals, where he was coached by Pablo Casals and members of the Budapest String Quartet. He has recorded with Columbia, CRI, Leonarda, Capstone and Direct-to-Tape.
He has appeared as soloist with The Philadelphia Orchestra, the Indianapolis, Everett, Lansdowne, West Jersey Chamber and Ocean City Symphonies, the Garden State Philharmonic, and the Bryn Athyn and Haverford-Bryn Mawr Orchestras.
He was a founding member of the Huntingdon Trio, which toured throughout the U.S. and Europe and commissioned more than forty new works in the twenty years of its existence. He has performed frequently on the Philadelphia Orchestra Chamber Music Series and the Saratoga Chamber Music Series, appearing with Emanuel Ax, Yefim Bronfman, Alicia de Larrocha, Christoph Eschenbach, Leonidas Kovakos, Yo-Yo Ma, Garrick Ohlsson, Gil Shaham, and Wolfgang Sawallisch.
Mr. Smith’s major compositions include a cello sonata, string quintet, string quartet, a work for eight celli, and smaller chamber compositions. He is largely self-taught, but a long-time neighbor and friend, Philadelphia composer Richard Yardumian, was a mentor to him and encouraged his writing.
He is a graduate of The Curtis Institute of Music, where his teachers were Leonard Rose and Orlando Cole. He has participated in the Marlboro Music Festivals, where he was coached by Pablo Casals and members of the Budapest String Quartet. He has recorded with Columbia, CRI, Leonarda, Capstone and Direct-to-Tape.
He has appeared as soloist with The Philadelphia Orchestra, the Indianapolis, Everett, Lansdowne, West Jersey Chamber and Ocean City Symphonies, the Garden State Philharmonic, and the Bryn Athyn and Haverford-Bryn Mawr Orchestras.
He was a founding member of the Huntingdon Trio, which toured throughout the U.S. and Europe and commissioned more than forty new works in the twenty years of its existence. He has performed frequently on the Philadelphia Orchestra Chamber Music Series and the Saratoga Chamber Music Series, appearing with Emanuel Ax, Yefim Bronfman, Alicia de Larrocha, Christoph Eschenbach, Leonidas Kovakos, Yo-Yo Ma, Garrick Ohlsson, Gil Shaham, and Wolfgang Sawallisch.
Mr. Smith’s major compositions include a cello sonata, string quintet, string quartet, a work for eight celli, and smaller chamber compositions. He is largely self-taught, but a long-time neighbor and friend, Philadelphia composer Richard Yardumian, was a mentor to him and encouraged his writing.
