| Nicholas Michael Smith | |
| Years Active: | –present |
| Birth Date: | 1967 |
| Alma Mater: | St John’s College Cambridge |
| Spouse: | Shen Yue (pianist) |
Nicholas Michael Smith OBE (born 1967, also known as Nick Smith,) is a British conductor, composer, and music educator.
Since 1994, Smith has lived and worked in the People's Republic of China.[1] His contributions to classical music performance and education in China have been the subject of documentaries and interviews on Chinese television and radio.[2]
In 2011, Smith was awarded an OBE in recognition of his "services to music and to UK/China relations".[3]
Born in 1967, Smith grew up in the United Kingdom attending Exeter School. He read music at St John’s College Cambridge (1987–90) under Robin Holloway and Martin Ennis.
In 1994, he moved to Wuhan, China to establish a post-graduate course in music theory at the Wuhan Conservatory of Music.
After relocating to Beijing in 1995, Smith worked with the Beijing Concert Hall on educational concerts to foster interest in western classical music with Chinese audiences. In 1997, Smith founded the Peking Sinfonietta and, in 2002, the Beijing International Festival Chorus. Smith has conducted soloists, ensembles, and orchestras on Chinese tour, including soprano Dame Emma Kirkby, violinists Kenneth Renshaw and Lü Siqing, British tenor Justin Lavender, the China Philharmonic Orchestra, the China National Film Symphony Orchestra, China National Opera & Dance Drama Theater, the Shanghai Philharmonic Orchestra, and Teatro Lirico Sperimentale.
In 2016 and 2018, Smith conducted a series of Chinese music concerts at London’s Cadogan Hall, performing Xian Xinghai’s Yellow River Cantata, choral arrangements of Chinese folk songs, and vocal settings of Tang poetry. He worked in collaboration with Canadian composer David Braid on improvisational performances fusing jazz piano and traditional Chinese music.[4] [5]
Smith has worked with Chinese author Hong Ying composing incidental music for her children’s book The Girl from the French Fort, premiering the work at Beijing Concert Hall in 2016. Smith has also translated several of Hong Ying’s children’s books into English.[6]
In 2019, Smith's recording of the oratorio Corona Divinae Misericordiae by David Braid with soprano Patricia O'Callaghan was nominated for a Juno Award for 'Classical Album of the Year'.[7]
In 2020, his recording of works by British composer Ed Hughes with The New Music Players, Ed Hughes: Time, Space & Change, was nominated by The Sunday Times as one of their 'Best Albums of 2020'.[8]
Smith's first opera "The Stone God" had its premiere at the Bloomsbury Theatre, London, in November 2024, with musical direction by Justin Lavender.[9] [10]
In 2007, Smith was appointed an honorary professor of conducting at the China Conservatory of Music. In 2012, he was appointed an honorary professor of the Tianjin Conservatory of Music. He also served as a governor of Harrow School, Beijing.[11]
Smith lives in Beijing with his wife, pianist Shen Yue, and their son.
Orchestral
Opera
Choral
Vocal
Solo and Chamber Instrumental
Arrangements
| Title | Year | Details | |
|---|---|---|---|
| British Celebration | 2016 |
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| British Celebration 2 | 2017 |
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| David Braid: Corona Divinae Misericordiae | 2018 |
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| Ed Hughes: Time, Space, and Change | 2020 |
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