Steven Smith is currently in his fifth season as assistant conductor of The Cleveland Orchestra, his fourth season as music director of the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra, and his third year as music director of the Santa Fe Symphony and Chorus. Effective July 1, 2002, he will be visiting associate professor of conducting and music director of the Oberlin Conservatory Orchestras.

Recent guest-conducting appearances by Smith include debuts with the symphony orchestras of Detroit, Houston, Taiwan, and Hong Kong, and engagements with the orchestras of Akron, Memphis, Kansas City, and Kalamazoo. He has led Chicago's Grant Park Symphony, Cleveland's Ohio Chamber Orchestra, New York's Chautauqua Symphony, the Annapolis Symphony, and the Colorado Symphony in Denver. Smith's recent debuts include appearances with the Hartford and Long Beach symphony orchestras, the Long Island Philharmonic, and Mexico's Orquesta Sinfónica de Xalapa. During the 2000-2001 season, he led the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra in special appearances at Carnegie Hall and at Penn State University.

From 1996-98, Steven Smith was associate conductor of the Kansas City Symphony. Concurrent with this appointment, he was the sole recipient of the Conductor Career Development Grant and was named Foundation Artist by the Geraldine C. and Emory M. Ford Foundation. Previous positions include music director of the San Juan Symphony, assistant conductor of the Colorado Springs Symphony, and conductor of "Epicycle: an ensemble for new music."

Smith is also an active composer. In 1991, The Cleveland Orchestra commissioned and gave the world premiere of Shake, Rattle & Roar, an interactive piece for orchestra and audience. The work was featured on National Public Radio and has since been performed by the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the National and Columbus symphonies, and other ensembles. Additional compositions include La Chasse (premiered by the Chautauqua Symphony) and A Journey.

A native of Toledo, Ohio, Steven Smith earned master's degrees from the Eastman School of Music and the Cleveland Institute of Music. He is the recipient of the Cleveland Institute of Music Alumni Association 1999 Alumni Achievement Award. Further conducting studies include workshops and seminars with Daniel Barenboim and Daniel Lewis through the American Symphony Orchestra League, Pierre Boulez at Carnegie Hall, Günther Schuller at the Festival at Sandpoint, and Charles Bruck at the Monteux School. In addition, he has worked with Otto-Werner Mueller and Walter Hendl.