The Con has a new face this fall as Steven Smith ta kes over the helm as Music Director of Orchestras. He replaces former director Paul Polivnick, who left after a five-year tenure. Smith will have the responsibility of leading bi-weekly rehearsals for both Conservatory orchestras and conducting them in concerts when no guest conductor is scheduled. In addition to this high-profile job, Smith will also occupy a place on the visiting faculty of the Conducting Department. Both positions have contracts signed only through this academic year.
Smith, hired this summer by the Dean of the Conservatory Robert Dodson, currently holds the post of Assistant Conductor of the Cleveland Orchestra, widely considered one of the premier orchestras in the country. He will retain this position, as well as the music directorship of the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra and the Santa Fe Orchestra and Chorus, throughout this coming season in addition to his new duties at Oberlin.
Immediately following Polivnick’s announced departure early last year, the Conservatory began to carry out the search for a replacement. This process started in the fall, though Polivnick remained in his post until the final orchestra concerts last spring.
"There were many highly qualified candidates [that were considered] in the year-long search for our new orchestra director," Dean of the Conservatory Robert Dodson said. "It was evident to everyone involved in the search and selection process that Steven Smith’s experience …would make him a compelling candidate."
In addition to his five-year tenure with Cleveland, Smith’s credentials are remarkable. He holds degrees from both the Eastman School of Music and the Cleveland Institute of Music, and is an accomplished violinist as well. His conducting training has come from the likes of Daniel Barenboim, the Music Director of the Chicago Symphony, and Pierre Boulez, the revolutionary French composer and conductor, as well as the revered Walter Hendl, Charles Bruck and others.
"I began my musical life by beginning…the violin at age 8," Smith said. "After working professionally as a violinist, mainly as concertmaster of the Grand Rapids Symphony, I turned to conducting." From that point on, his work has taken him across the United States and around the world, including engagements with the symphonies of Detroit, Kansas City and Houston, and the orchestras of Hong Kong and Taiwan as well as Mexico’s Orquesta Sinfónica de Xalapa.
The Conservatory took great care in selecting a new conductor of orchestras, and many of the candidates were able to conduct the ensembles in rehearsals and in concerts. However, the final administrative decision was not reached until this summer, when students were given word of Smith’s hiring in an announcement on Oberlin Online.
Dodson said that direct observation of Smith’s work, both on and off campus, gave him confidence that the new conductor would “continue the work of developing Oberlin’s orchestra and conducting programs to the highest level of achievement possible.”
Smith was officially named Director of Conservatory Orchestras on July 1, 2002. It was not until the semester began and the ensembles reassembled, however, that he was able to fulfill his actual conducting duties.
“So far I've really enjoyed the rehearsals with the orchestras and getting to know the students better,” Smith said after his first two weeks on the job. “We have worked hard…and everyone has been involved and excited. I am impressed with the high degree of curiosity and care which Oberlin students bring to the orchestra and everything that they do.
“For me, an academic position was sort of a new idea. I’ve always enjoyed teaching and my work with the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra, so it wasn't a totally unfamiliar idea. The prestige of the College and Conservatory certainly was attractive.”
For students in the Conservatory, Smith’s hiring has changed little in their daily routines. While not possessing a unique persona during rehearsals, he is described as a proficient conductor with an upbeat and cheerful demeanor. He is also said to be willing to work the score carefully, dissecting and repeating passages until they are played to his satisfaction.
“He is sincere and seems very interested in the well-being of the orchestras,” Conservatory sophomoret Bethany Wildes said. She added that Smith has a clear conducting style that is easy to follow.
Given Smith’s credentials, the outlook for Oberlin orchestras this year looks good.