Ted King-Smith

From Wind Repertory Project
Ted King-Smith

Biography

Ted King-Smith (b. 1988) is a composer, educator, and saxophonist.

Hailing from the Hudson Valley of New York, Ted began his love of music with the saxophone at age 8. He graduated from the Hartt School of Music in 2010 with a BM in music education, and studied saxophone with Carrie Koffman and composition with Stephen Gryc and Larry Alan Smith. He then moved west to study composition at Washington State University (WSU), where he graduated with an MA in 2012. His composition teachers at WSU included Aleks Sternfeld-Dunn, Ryan Hare, and Scott Blasco; as well as saxophone with Greg Yasinitsky. Ted is currently attending the University of Missouri – Kansas City (UMKC), where his composition teachers include Chen Yi, James Mobberley, and Paul Rudy.

Described as “off-beat, jazzy, and… convincing,” his music synthesizes several different influences, musical and otherwise, into engaging works that emphasize variety, virtuosity, and improvisation.

Recent recognition for his music has come from the American Prize and the Washington-Idaho Symphony. He has been awarded grants from the Kansas City Downtown Council for the Arts as well as the KCAI and UMKC ArtSounds program. Notable performers include the University of Missouri-Kansas City Wind Symphony and Wind Ensemble, the Hartt School Symphony Band, the University of Tennessee Symphonic Band, the Washington State University Wind Ensemble, Henderson State University Wind Ensemble, the UMKC Saxophone Ensemble, the Alloy Saxophone Quartet, Saxophilia Quartet, and others.

As an educator, Ted has taught music in every level of musical education ranging from pre-kindergarten to university. He is currently adjunct faculty at Kansas City Kansas Community College where he teaches courses in music technology and multimedia, and has held teaching assistantships at WSU and UMKC. Ted is also active in the Kansas City new music community as a founding member of the Mnemosyne (nem-o-zine) Quartet and Fusebox New Music collective.


Works for Winds


Resources