FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – The Indiana University Jacobs School of Music is pleased to announce the appointment of Jeffrey Smith as professor of practice in organ: sacred music, effective Aug. 1.
Prior to his appointment, Smith was director of music at St. Paul’s Parish, K Street, in Washington, D.C. He served as Jacobs visiting associate professor of music from 2009 to 2011.
“The Jacobs School of Music is delighted to welcome Jeffrey Smith back to our organ faculty,” said Abra Bush, David Henry Jacobs Bicentennial Dean. “His vast experience in and mastery of organ performance, as well as choral conducting, will help to ensure that our students enjoy the best possible preparation for their careers in sacred music.”
“Jeffrey Smith is a church musician of the highest order, a consummate expert in the diverse disciplines we wish our students to master—from choral training and conducting to the many facets of organ performance, with special expertise in organ improvisation,” said Janette Fishell, chair of the Jacobs Organ Department. “He is an engaging teacher, caring mentor and excellent colleague, whose leadership of our sacred music core curriculum will take us boldly into a new age of excellence.”
Smith was music director at St. Paul’s Parish, K Street, in Washington D.C., for 17 years. St. Paul’s is well known as a beacon of liturgical and musical excellence.
From 2004 to 2009, Smith served as canon director of music at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco. While there, he conducted its Choir of Men and Boys in an extensive liturgical program, devised and conducted tours and recordings, and oversaw a weekly concert series.
He is active as a choral conductor, workshop leader and recitalist, and in the work of the Royal School of Church Music, American Guild of Organists and Association of Anglican Musicians.
Smith earned a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from Yale University and also studied at Northwestern University and the Royal College of Music, London. He won highest honors in receiving the fellowship of the American Guild of Organists. He is a fellow of the Royal School of Church Music and of the Guild of Church Music (U.K.).
Smith’s teachers included Thomas Murray, Wolfgang Rübsam, John Birch and David Willcocks. He studied improvisation with Gerre Hancock and Philippe Lefebvre, organist of Notre Dame de Paris. As a commentator on church music, Smith has been heard on both NPR and BBC radio, and his choral and organ disks on the Pro Organo label have been critically praised. His compositions are published by E.C. Schirmer.
“Students seeking a career in sacred music deserve—now, more than ever—intensive training, performing experience and committed mentorship,” said Smith. “I am eager to join outstanding colleagues Janette Fishell and Christopher Young in enriching the breadth and depth of the organ department. The Jacobs School of Music is uniquely poised to shape generations of outstanding church musicians.”