DEALERS      ARTISTS      PLAYEDBY      EVENTS      ABOUT      CONTACT          SCHILKE

Jahleel Smith

Bass Trombonist, Kansas City Symphony

Jahleel Smith joins the Kansas City Symphony in the 2022/2023 season and was previously the Bass Trombonist of the Hawaii Symphony Orchestra  during the 2021-22 season. While in Hawaii, Mr. Smith maintained a very active teaching schedule while maintaining a private studio and teaching lessons as the the low brass specialist at both the prestigious Punahou and Iolani Schools.  Mr. Smith hails from Atlanta, Georgia and entered the Curtis Institute of Music in 2014 to study bass trombone with Blair Bollinger of The Philadelphia Orchestra.  Mr. Smith was awarded the Crown Holdings, Inc. Annual Fellowship at the Curtis Institute.  While on tour with The Curtis Symphony Orchestra and Maestro Osmo Vanska,  the orchestra performed concerts and residencies in Finland, Germany,  London, Austria and Poland.

Following his studies at The Curtis Institute of Music, Mr. Smith went on to Indiana University’s Jacob’s School of Music where he was a distinguished  recipient of the Jacobs Fellowship and graduated in the degree program for the  Master of Music degree while studying with Dr. Denson Paul Pollard. While attending IU, Mr. Smith was a finalist for the Brass concerto competition for two years as well as a finalist for several job auditions including those with the San Antonio Symphony, US Army Concert and Ceremonial Bands as well as being a semi-finalist for the Principal Bass Trombone audition with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra. Mr. Smith has performed in Carnegie Hall with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra and has been invited to play with The Philadelphia Orchestra.

Mr. Smith has attended The Pacific Music Festival in Sapporo, Japan, the Boston University Tanglewood Institute, and the Cleveland Trombone Seminar where he was awarded the Jiggs Wigham Scholarship for best under-21  audition recording. He has performed with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Malaysian Philharmonic, the Louisville Orchestra and the Classical/Pops All- Star Orchestra in Barbados. Mr. Smith was also a finalist for the Edward  Kleinhammer Orchestral Bass Trombone Competition at the International  Trombone Festival in 2016.

INSTRUMENT: