Cory Smythe

What excites you most about joining our School of Arts and Humanities community?

“Every one of the pathbreaking artists working and studying here!”

Why did you choose your field? Why should students consider studying the arts and humanities?

“I started at the piano quite young—when it really was just ‘playing.’ (In college, when music had become more arduous, a compassionate teacher reminded me, “they call it ‘playing the piano’ for a reason, you know.”) Probably part of what's drawn me to a more experimental sort of music-making has to do with play—at the boundary of my understanding, inventing new-to-me (perhaps, if I'm lucky, new-to-others) sound and substance. There are, no doubt, better reasons than this to consider studying the arts and humanities, but playful discovery is probably worth keeping in mind, too.”

What research or project are you working on currently?

“Well, I'm typing this on the train back to NYC from EMPAC, where my colleagues Ning Yu, Levy Lorenzo and I have been in a weeklong residency with the visionary composer Brigitta Muntendorf, working on her epic ‘Trilogie’ for two pianos and electronics. Definitely among the most challenging—and fascinating—pieces I've ever tried to learn.”

“I'm looking forward, as this project comes to a close, to getting back to writing music for a new trio led by the phenomenal saxophonist-composer Steve Lehman and featuring drummer-composer Jonathan Pinson, exploring our various approaches to electronically augmented acoustic instruments—debuting in LA this fall!”

What is something about yourself that is not typically included in your bio?

“I worry a bit that my affection for Star Trek, while not explicitly stated in my bio, might be pretty heavily implied.”

Pianist Cory Smythe has worked closely with pioneering artists in new, improvisatory and classical music, including multi-instrumentalist-composer Tyshawn Sorey, violinist Hilary Hahn and composers ranging from Anthony Braxton to Zosha Di Castri. His own “perplexingly perfect” (The Wire) music “dissolves the lines between composition and improvisation with rigor” (Chicago Reader).

Smythe has been featured at the Newport Jazz, Tectonics and Darmstadt festivals, as well as at Lincoln Center’s Mostly Mozart Festival, where he premiered new work created in collaboration with Peter Evans and Craig Taborn. He has received commissions from Present Music, the Banff Centre for the Arts, the Trondheim Jazz Orchestra, the Wiener Festwochen and the International Contemporary Ensemble, of which he is a longtime member.

Smythe’s recent trilogy of critically acclaimed albums on the Pyroclastic label has been made with the support of a grant from The Shifting Foundation. He received a Grammy award for his work with Ms. Hahn and a 2022 Herb Alpert Award in music. He holds a Master of Music degree from the USC Thornton School of Music.