Robert H. Smith, Jr., a native of Tallahassee, Florida, is currently the Artistic Administrator of Orchestras at the Verbier Festival (Verbier, Switzerland) where he has worked with a host of internationally renowned conductors, including Kurt Masur, Valery Gergiev, Charles Dutoit, Yuri Temirkanov, Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, Daniel Harding, and Gábor Takács-Nagy, to name a few.
Prior to joining the Verbier Festival he served for 12 years as the Director , and later Assistant Dean, of the Manhattan School of Music’s seminal Graduate Program in Orchestral Performance. While at the Manhattan School Mr. Smith also served as Director of the school’s Community Outreach program, administrative director of the Summer Professional Musical Theater Workshop, and artistic coordinator of MSM”s acclaimed contemporary chamber music ensemble, The Claremont Ensemble.
Mr. Smith has performed extensively as collaborative pianist with singers, dancers, instrumentalists and chamber ensembles in the U.S. and abroad. His numerous concerts with vocalists were highlighted by collaborations with renowned tenor George Shirley and the late baritone-bass William Warfield as well as performances with members of the New York Philharmonic.