Daryl Smith is a pianist and composer, who for 27 years taught music to students in the Rochester city schools.
As a teacher, he found himself continually impressed by his students that were drawn to music, "Not only just taking piano, learning the technique, but at their age, feeling the music in the way the composer wanted it expressed."
Now, piano students across the country have an opportunity to learn to play a piece that he wrote.
Smith's composition "Lyrique" has just been published in the sixth volume of "Solo Celebration" by Alfred Music, and we have added a recording of this piece, by pianist Dr. Jiaying Chen to our broadcast library at WXXI Classical.
Smith has long been inspired by the romantic side of classical piano music.
"Even as a boy I was a deep thinker as well as ruminating about the past. Romantic music escorts me to my past life experiences, especially the hard times I had to face."
As a student, he applied for several composition contests, where he made to the final rounds. He recalls, " Though I did not win, these opportunities helped me overcome low self-esteem I fought with growing up and gave me confidence that I could achieve what I set my heart to do."
That desire to publish his music continued into his professional life. "During the course of my writing, people strongly encouraged me to become published, and that continued at SOTA where I taught," he says.
And now that his music is out in the world, on the music stands of students around the country, he hopes it helps them to learn, and that they bring their own voice to what he has written, because, as he says: "art is about people."
"It’s about what we go through in this life, and how it allows us to get proper perspective in our lives and how we grow as people."
Smith has long been a WXXI Classical listener who has suggested excellent piano pieces to add to the playlists, and I am thrilled that we are now adding his name to the list of composers that we feature.
His story was featured in a spot on the WXXI News podcast this fall. But there's so much more to our conversation, and you can listen to more of Daryl Smith's perspective on music, education, and what he has learned through his life in art in the interview posted here online.
