Biography
Critics have hailed cellist Brinton Averil Smith as a “virtuoso cellist with few equals,” describing him as “a proponent of old-school string playing such as that of Piatigorsky and Heifetz.” Reviewing his recent live recording of the revival of Castelnuovo-Tedesco's Cello Concerto, BBC Music magazine wrote, “his is a cast iron technique of verve and refinement put entirely at the service of the music. The artistry on display here is breathtaking...” His debut recording of Miklós Rózsa’s Concerto with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra won similar international acclaim, with Gramophone praising Smith as a “hugely eloquent, impassioned soloist,” while the American Record Guide praised his recording of chamber music of Fauré with Gil Shaham as “stunningly beautiful.”
Mr. Smith's engagements have included performances at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, and recital and concerto appearances both internationally and throughout the United States. His broadcast performances include CBS's Sunday Morning and regular appearances on NPR’s Performance Today and SymphonyCast, while his live performances have been viewed over one million times on YouTube. As a chamber musician, Smith has collaborated with cellists Yo-Yo Ma and Lynn Harrell, pianists Yefim Bronfman, Emanuel Ax, Jeffrey Kahane and Kirill Gerstein, violinists Gil Shaham, James Ehnes, Cho-Liang Lin, and Sarah Chang, and members of the Guarneri, Emerson, Juilliard, Cleveland, and Berg quartets. Previously a member of the New York Philharmonic, and the principal cellist of the San Diego and Fort Worth symphonies, Mr. Smith has been the principal cellist of the Houston Symphony since 2005.
A dedicated teacher, Mr. Smith is a faculty member of the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University and the Aspen Music Festival and School, and a frequent guest clinician at the New World Symphony. He regularly gives masterclasses at colleges and festivals throughout the United States, and his students have won positions in orchestras, including the Atlanta, Dallas, Houston, Indianapolis, North Carolina, Rochester, San Diego, Seattle, St. Louis, and Toronto symphonies.
The son of a mathematician and a pianist, Mr. Smith was admitted to Arizona State University at age 10, where he took courses in mathematics and German and, at age 17, completed a B.A. in mathematics. As a student of Eleonore Schoenfeld at the University of Southern California, he was also a teaching assistant in the mathematics department, and completed work for an M.A. in mathematics at age 19. He subsequently studied with the legendary cellist Zara Nelsova at The Juilliard School and received a Doctor of Musical Arts degree, writing on the playing of Emanuel Feuermann.
For further information, please see brintonaverilsmith.com.