According to Music Department lore, Hale Smith was brought on board the UConn faculty in 1970 in part to wrangle 2 wayward composition students - Ron Ancrum and myself - into some semblance of an educated state. Hale provided a glowing example of how one might create a musical life in the Big Apple, from whence he commuted to Storrs, CT every week. We eagerly awaited his arrival Tuesday mornings (okay - it was generally afternoon by the time he'd appear!) - and we hung on his every word for the next couple days. Knowing Hale existed and had an actual career in music gave my friends and me hope for the future, and what he taught us then continues to ring true.

A few years after I'd moved to New York City, I looked back and reflected that I could trace every single professional contact I'd made, every friend I'd found and gig I'd had directly or indirectly through my association with Hale Smith. I'd studied music copying and editing under his tutelage - skills that paid my bills for many years - as well as musicology analysis, arranging and composition. But even more critical than these techniques were the introductions Hale so generously offered, allowing me to meet his colleagues and friends in the music world, where he seemed to know everyone! Hale opened the door to my first job at E.B. Marks as a music librarian and apprentice music editor under Don Sickler - which led to my next job at Belwin-Mills where I met Jack Perricone. Hale brought me to Bob and Judy Haring at Aztec Music, which began a lifelong relationship with their fine papers and duplication services. And he introduced me to Charles Colin, which led to enduring friendships with countless wonderful musicians, composers, recording engineers, producers and singers.

I feel privileged and grateful to have known Hale for so long, to have enjoyed his extraordinary music, his dry wit and good humor, his expertise and guidance all these years. I hope this webpage honors him in some small measure.

HALE SMITH is regarded as one of America's finest composers. He has also had a distinguished career as an arranger, editor, and educator. Born in Cleveland, Ohio on June 29, 1925, he began study of the piano at age seven, and his initial performance experience included both classical and jazz music. After military service (1943-45), he entered the Cleveland Institute of Music as a composition major, receiving a bachelor's degree in 1950 and a master's degree in 1952. His principal teachers were Ward Lewis in theory and Marcel Dick, his only teacher of composition.

He moved to New York in 1958 and from that time he has worked with many prominent jazz artists, including Chico Hamilton, Dizzy Gillespie, Eric Dolphy, Randy Weston, Melba Liston, Ahmad Jamal, and Oliver Nelson.

He also served as an editor and consultant with several music publishers (E.B. Marks, C.F. Peters, Frank Music Corp. and Sam Fox Music Publishers).

In 1952, Hale Smith was a winner of the first Student Composer's Award sponsored by Broadcast Music Inc., and in 1960 was commissioned by BMI to compose Contours for Orchestra. His other works include Ritual and Incantation, Innerflexions, By Yearning and By Beautiful, Music for Harp and Orchestra, Orchestral Set, Mediations in Passage, several chamber music and solo pieces and several works for chorus and solo voice and piano (see list below).

Hale Smith has received several honors: the Cleveland Arts Prize, and Awards from the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters, The National Black Music Caucus, and an honorary doctorate from the Cleveland Institute of Music.

He has taught at C.W. Post College (Long Island) and is Professor Emeritus from the University of Connecticut. In addition, he has served on the boards of several organizations: The American Composers Alliance, Composer's Recordings, Inc., The American Music Center, several state arts councils; as a copyright infringement consultant; and as orchestrator and artistic consultant for the Black Music Repertory Ensemble of the Center for Black Music Research Columbia College Chicago. Hale was appointed to the New York State Council on the Arts (1993-1997) by Governor Mario Cuomo.

To read Hale's New York Times Obituary CLICK HERE

To Read T. J. Anderson's moving tribute to Hale from AMC's NewMusicBox CLICK HERE

INSTRUMENTAL SOLOS

Violin
Duo for Violin & Piano 1953, New York: C. Peters (rental) Premiere 1955
Epicedial Variations 1956, 1956, revised 1957, Bryn Mawr, PA; Merion Music, 1979. Premiere 1956

'Cello
Sonata for 'Cello & Piano 1955. New York: C.F. Peters, 1984. Premiere 1956

Flute
Three Brevities for Solo Flute 1961. New York; E. B. Marks, 1969. Premiere 1961. Recorded: Eastern ERS-513

Piano
Anticipations, Introspections, and Reflections 1971, Bryn Mawr, PA: Merion Music 1979, Premiere 1971
Breaking Bread With Egbert 1997, Freeport, NY; Halsco Music, 1997 Premiere 1997
Evocation 1965, New York; C. F. Peters, 1966. Note: originally titled Aphorism Premiere 1965. Recorded           Composers Recordings CRI CD 629, Desto DC-7102/7103   Commissioned by Int'l. Library of Piano Music
Faces of Jazz 1965, New York; E. B. Marks, 1968. Recorded: Protone Records NRPR-2201; Young Sound Recording           YS -62246
For One Called Billy 1975, Freeport, NY; Halsco Music
Four Mosaics 1948, Freeport, NY Halsco Music

Two Pianos
Mirrors: Rondo-Variations for Two Pianos 1988, Bryn Mawr, PA Merion Music, 1990. Commissioned by the Delphin           and Romain Duo Piano Team.

SMALL INSTRUMENTAL ENSEMBLE

Combinations
Dialogues and Commentaries for Seven Players (flute, clarinet/bass clarinet,           violin, viola, cello, piano, percussion) 1991. Freeport, NY Merion Music           (rental)
Introduction, Cadenzas and Interludes for Eight Players (flute/alto flute, oboe,           clarinet, harp, piano, violin, viola, cello) 1974, Bryn Mawr, PA; Merion           Music, 1976. Commissioned by the Sea Cliff Chamber Players.           Premiere 1976. Recorded: Musical Heritage Society MHS 512563
Solemn Music (organ, four horns, four trumpets, three trombones) 1979.           New York; C.F. Peters, 1986. Commissioned by Leon Thompson
A Ternion of Seasons (woodwind quintet, brass quintet, percussion, narrator)           1996. Contents: Give Me the Splendid Silent Sun; Rhodora; A Final           Affection
Variations a Due (cello and alto saxophone doubling flute, soprano           saxophone or clarinet ad lib) 1984. Freeport, NY; Halsco Music.
Variations for Six Players (woodwind quintet, piano) 1975, Bryn Mawr, PA;           Merion Music, 1976. Premiere 1975.

FULL ORCHESTRA

Contours for Orchestra 1961. New York; C. F. Peters, 1962. Premiere, 1962. Recorded: Louisville LOU 632
Innerflexions 1977, Bryn Mawr, PA; Theodore Presser (rental) Commissioned by Leon Thompson. Premiere 1977.           Recorded: Composers Recordings CRI CD 590
Orchestral Set 1952; revised 1968. New York; C.F. Peters (rental) Premiere 1974
Ritual and Incantations 1974. New York; C.F. Peters 1975. Premiere 1974. Recorded: Columbia M34556

ORCHESTRA (Chamber or Full) WITH SOLOISTS OR CHORUS

Concert Music for Piano and Orchestra 1972. New York; C.F. Peters (rental) Commissioned by Leon Thompson.           Premiere 1972.
In Memoriam-Beryl Rubenstein (SATB, chamber orchestra or piano) 1953 New York Highgate Press (Galaxy Music),           1959. Note: orchestrated in 1958. Recorded: Composers Recordings Inc. CRI SC-182
Meditations In Passage (soprano, baritone, orchestra or piano) 1980-81. Bryn Mawr, PA: Merion Music. 1982.           Commissioned by the Fisk University Institute for Research in Black American Music.
Music for Harp and Orchestra 1967 Bryn Mawr, PA; Merion Music (rental) Premiere 1967
Symphonic Spirituals (solo voice, orchestra) 1980 New York; Halsco Music. Also arranged for voice and piano.

STRING ORCHESTRA

By Yearning and By Beautiful 1964. Bryn Mawr, PA; Theodore Presser (rental) Premiere 1972
Variations on a Quasi Classical Tune for String Orchestra of Young Players 1992. Freeport, NY; Halsco Music

BAND

Exchanges (trumpet, band) 1970. New York; E. B. Marks. 1976.           Also arranged for trumpet and orchestra. Premiere 1970
Expansions 1967. New York; E. B. Marks, 1967. Premiere 1967.           Recorded: Dimension 27361; F. Colombo BP 107;           New World Records NW 211
March and Fanfare for an Elegant Lady 1986. Freeport, NY           Halsco Music
Recitative and Aria for English Horn Solo (English horn, winds,           brass, percussion) 1995. Unpublished manuscript
Riverain (winds, brass, percussion) 1993. New York; C.F.           Peters. 1993
Somersault: A Twelve Tone Adventure for Band 1964. New           York; Frank Music 1964. Recorded F. Colombo BP 102;           Frank Music FR 3465
Take A Chance: An Aleatoric Episode for Band 1964 New York;           Frank Music 1965
Trinal Dance 1965, New York; Duchess 1968

JAZZ ENSEMBLE                                                                             
Ask Your Mama (one or two narrators, jazz ensemble) 1994           Freeport, NY; Halsco Music. Commissioned by Rawn           Spearman

VOICE WITH INSTRUMENTAL ENSEMBLE

I'm Going To Sing (tenor with piano or violin, cello, clarinet, piano) 1991. Freeport, NY; Halsco Music
Two Love Songs of John Donne (soprano, string quartet, woodwind quintet) 1958. Freeport, NY; Halsco Music,           Premiere 1958

SOLO VOICE

Beyond the Rim of Day (high voice, piano) 1950. New York; E. B. Marks 1970. contents: March Moon; Troubled           Woman; To a Little Lover-Lass; Dead. Premiere 1955
Come Back, My Youth 1972. Freeport, NY; Halsco Music
Five Songs for Soprano and Violin 1956. Freeport, NY; Halsco Music
Music for Martyrs (bass voice, piano, drum) 1997 New York; Halsco Music
Three Patterson Lyrics (soprano voice, piano) 1985 Bryn Mawr, PA, Merion Music 1986
Three Songs (contralto) 1949 Freeport, NY; Halsco Music. Contents: Dream Varaitions; From the Delta's Unmarked           Graves, Prayer
The Valley Wind (medium voice and piano) 1951-55 New York; E. B. Marks 1974. Note: originally titled Four Songs.           contents: The Valley Wind, Spring, Envoy in Autumn, Velvet Shoes. Premiere 1955. Recorded: Composers           Recordings CRI SD-301

VOCAL TRIO

Tra La La Lamia (soprano, tenor baritone soloists, piano) 1991 Freeport, NY; Halsco Music

CHORAL MUSIC

Comes Tomorrow: Jazz Cantata (four soloists, SATB, jazz rhythm section) 1972; revised 1976. Freeport, NY; Halsco           Music. Premiere 1972.
I'm Coming Home (SATB, optional rhythm section accompaniment) 1974. New York; E. B. Marks 1974
Toussaint L'Ouverture-1803 (SATB) 1976 Bryn Mawr, PA; Merion Music, 1979
Two Kids (SATB) 1950 New York; E.B. Marks 1973

MUSICAL THEATER

Joplin's Dirty Rags (two pianos, ragtime band) 1983 Freeport, NY; Halsco Music

INCIDENTAL MUSIC

Blood Wedding 1953 Incidental music to the play by Garcia Lorca
Bold New Approach 1966 Incidental documentary film music
Lysistrata 1952 Incidental music to the play by Aristophanes
Nuances of Hale Smith 1968 New York; Sam Fox Music 1968. Television and radio background music. Recorded:           Sam Fox SF 1022
Ferma 1951 Incidental music to the play by Garcia Lorca

PUBLICATIONS

About Smith

Dissertations
Breda, Malcolm Joseph, "Hale Smith: A Biographical and Analytical Study of the Man and His Music" Ph.D. diss.           University of Southern Mississippi, 1975

Cody, Carlos Bernard. " A Study of Selected Band Compositions of Three Twentieth Century Composers: William           Grant Still, Ulysses Kay and Hale Smith" Ph.D. diss. University of Southern Mississippi, 1990

Davis, Mark Hosea "Five Wind/Band Works of Hale Smith and Their Implications for a MultiCultural Curriculum" Ed.D.           diss. Washington University 1994

Long, Jo Harolyn "An Analysis of Representative Compositions by Three Black Composers" M.M thesis. Couthern            Methodist University, 1961

Spence, Martha Ellen Blanding "Selected Song Cycles of Three Contemporary Black American Composer: William            Grant Still, John Duncan and Hale Smith" Mus.D. thesis, University of Southern Mississippi, 1977

Articles
Abdul, Raoul "Hale Smith's Rituals" In Blacks in Classical Music, 42-43 New York, Dodd, Mead 1977

Baker, David N., Lida M. Belt, and Herman C. Hudson, ed.: "Hale Smith" In The Black Composer Speaks, 313-336.           Metachen, NY Scarecrow Press, 1978

Caldwell, Hansonia L. "Conversation with Hale Smith: A Man of Many Parts" Black Perspective in Music 3, no. 1 (1975)           '58-76

Everett, Thomas Gregory, "Concert Band Music by Black-American Composers: A Selected List" Black Perspective in           Music 6, no. 2 (1978) 143-150

Recent edition of the Institute for Studies in American Music included an article entitled,
     "Musical Topics in Hale Smith's 'Evocation'."

By Smith

"African American Music; The Hidden Tradition" Chicago Symphony Stagebill (spring 1995)

"Black America, 1976" WFLN (Philadelphia, PA) Program Guide (February 1976) 11-12

"Creativity and the Negro" African Forum 1 (Summer 1965); 117-120

"Here I Stand" In Readings in Black American Music, edited by Eileen Southern, 271-278 New York; W. W. Norton           1971

"Marcel Dick: An Appreciation" In Studies in the Schoenbergian Movement in Vienna and the United States: Essays in           Honor of Marcel Dick, edited by Anne Trenkamp and Hohn G. Seuss, 289-291. Studies in the History and           Interpretation of Music, vol. 25. Lewiston, NY Edwin Mellen Press, 1990

"Music, American Music, African-American Music, and Indivisible Unity" Keynote Speech delivered by Hale Smith at the           1993 Unisys African-American Composers Forum and Symposium, April 30, 1993

"Paul Robeson, Civil Rights Activist: An Opinion" Black Music Research Bulletin, 12, no. 1 (1990) 7-9

"A Personal Remembrance of William Grant Still and His Significance for Other African-American Composers"           Program booklet, Still Going On conference, St. Augustine's College, 1995

Program notes, "African Portraits" by Hannibal Peterson, Chicago Symphony Orchestra Program Notes, May 4, 1995

Program notes, The Mystery School: Music For Wind Quintet, India Navigation, IN-1046

Forward, "Musical Landscapes in Color" by William Banfield, Scarecrow Press, Inc., 2003

Hale Smith has received several honors including:
    - The Cleveland Arts Prize
    - a prize from the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters
    - Outstanding Achievement from the Black Music Caucus of MENC
    - Board Member: American Composers Alliance, Composers Recordings Inc.
    - Director: American Music Center
    - Honorary Doctorate Degree: Cleveland Institute of Music
   - Freeport Arts Council: Co-founder, former President and Chairman of the Board
   - ARTY (Arts Recognition Award) recipient from the Long Island Arts Council at Freeport
   - The Smithsonian Institute sent two fellows to interview Hale for a week, making about l5            cassettes of Hale's narrative about everything.

Hale was appointed to the New York Council on the Arts by Governor Mario Cuomo in 1993.