Greg Smith is a Newcastle-based composer, arranger, pianist, and educator.  He studied piano with his mother, Naomi Smith, until commencing undergraduate studies at the University of Newcastle in 1997.  There, he studied piano with Carmel Lutton and composition with Colin Spiers and Nigel Butterley.  In 2000, he completed a Bachelor of Music with Honours (Class I) and was awarded a University Medal.  Subsequently, Greg undertook a Master of Creative Arts in which he explored the Russian piano repertoire, further solidifying his affection for Rachmaninoff and Tchaikovsky. 

Greg is an avid accompanist and enjoys the wide range of repertoire and the opportunity to collaborate with the brilliant musicians he encounters in that role.  He has worked as a repetiteur for productions, including La Bohème and Threepenny Opera.  He also enjoys accompanying The Hunter Singers and the Hunter School of Performing Arts’ Bel Canto choir. 

As an educator, Greg has taught harmony, aural, and music history at the University of Newcastle (2000-2005) and Avondale University (2006).  He now teaches privately, with a passion for instilling the importance of imagination in music and an understanding of the musical language. 

As a composer, his output includes works for piano and various other instruments, choral music, a concerto, and a musical.  From 2011-2014, he composed and performed scores for silent films, including Big Business (Laurel & Hardie), Easy Street (Charlie Chaplin), One Week (Buster Keaton), and Super-Hooper-Dyne Lizzies (Felix Alder).  Greg’s website is Wedgebill Music. 

AT THE FESTIVAL