Two Sides of William O. Smith

Orchestra U.S.A.; Gunther Schuller, Conductor; William O. Smith, clarinet; Robert Suderburg, pianoWilliam O. Smith began to study clarinet when he was ten. While still in grade school he started a dance band, at age fifteen he began playing professionally and wrote his first composition, a woodwind quintet. In 1945 he began studying at Juilliard while playing jazz on 52nd Street and performing with Dean Dixon’s Youth Symphony. He later studied at Mills College, the University of California, and the Paris Conservatory. He received his M.A. from the University of California in 1952. His chief composition teachers were Darius Milhaud and Roger Sessions. While at Mills he played and recorded with the original Dave Brubeck Octet...Smith lived in Paris from 1951 to 1953 as a recipient of the Prix de Paris. Upon his return to the West Coast in 1953, he taught, and performed his Concerto for Clarinet and Combo with Shelly Manne’s group, his Divertimento with Red Norvo’s ensemble and two albums