"Bridging modernism and American jazz and pop idioms" (San Antonio Express-News), the innovative and highly energetic music of Rob Smith is frequently performed throughout the United States and abroad. Ensembles and musicians that have performed his compositions include the Continuum Ensemble (London), Coruscations (Sydney), Synchronia (St. Louis), the Montague-Mead Piano Plus (London), the Aspen Contemporary Ensemble and the pianist Christopher Taylor. He has received commissions from the New York Youth Symphony Chamber Music Program, the American Composers Forum (as a part of their Continental Harmony project) and several nationally renowned university wind ensembles, among others.

His compositions have received numerous awards, including those from ASCAP, the National Band Assoc., the National Association of Composers in the USA, the Luigi Russolo International Electronic Music Competition, and the Society of Composers. In 1997, as the recipient of a Fulbright Grant to Australia, he collaborated with many different Australian ensembles and musicians, which led to a teaching position at the University of Wollongong in 1998. He holds a Bachelor of Music Degree from Potsdam College and both the Master of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts Degrees in music composition from The University of Texas at Austin. Currently, he teaches at the University of Houston's Moores School of Music where he is Assistant Professor of Music Composition and director of the Aura Contemporary Ensemble.

Website: http://RobSmithComposer.com/