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“My first reaction to the virtual performance of my piece was simply, ‘Wow!’ The sound itself is really quite convincing—surprisingly so—but the musicality, the expressivity of the rendering was a revelation. ‘Wow,’ indeed! ...I recommend Ravel Virtual Studios to all composers and arrangers.”

Gary Smart
Presidential Professor of Music, University of North Florida

Spotlight - Gary Smart

Gary Smart is an American composer of diverse musical talents and interests, and Ravel Virtual Studios is proud to have worked with Dr. Smart on two of his pieces, Wabi Sabi and Bye-bye. We’re also pleased to be able to offer both here in their entirety for your enjoyment. In the composer’s own words:

Wabi Sabi is a fantasy for eight instruments: flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, violin, viola, cello and bass. The title, a Japanese phrase, refers to a love and nostalgia for ancient times, for old things—antiques—things which evoke feelings of purity, nobility, hard won wisdom, an essential spirituality, true worth. A tea ceremony in a Kyoto garden is “wabi sabi.”
The piece was formed intuitively as a kind of drama, perhaps a Japanese folk tale. The expansion of “time perception,” the savoring of sound colors and the evocation of mood is central to the aesthetic of this music. I’m very pleased with this wonderful virtual performance by Ravel Virtual Studios.




Bye-bye for mixed sextet of instruments was written specifically for the 2010 Finale Composers’ Competition. It was finished in August 2010. It is a kind of abstract toccata which relies on rhythmic gestures as a primary unifying device. The piece is Ivesian in its overall American character and in its use of materials from diverse musical genres (vaudeville, ragtime, waltz, early jazz, swing, etc.) Only five minutes in length, this piece is written to serve as a brilliant, eccentric showpiece encore. Fans of the “Great American songbook” will recognize this music to be a free fantasy on the old sing-a-long favorite—“Bye Bye Blackbird” (1926). To me, this virtual performance by Ravel Virtual Studios is remarkable, both technically and musically.




About Gary Smart

Gary SmartGary Smart’s career has encompassed a wide range of activities as composer, classical and jazz pianist, and teacher. Always a musician with varied interests, he may be the only pianist to have studied with Yale scholar/keyboardist Ralph Kirkpatrick, the great Cuban virtuoso Jorge Bolet, and the master jazz pianist Oscar Peterson. A true American pluralist, Dr. Smart composes and improvises a music that reflects an abiding interest in Americana, jazz, and world musics, as well as the Western classical tradition.

Dr. Smart’s work has been supported by the Guggenheim Foundation, the Ford Foundation, the Music Educator’s National Conference, the Music Teacher’s National Association and the National Endowment for the Arts. Dr. Smart’s music has been performed in major venues in the US, including the Kennedy Center and Carnegie Hall, as well as venues in Europe and Asia. His Concordia for orchestra won the Concordia jazz composition award and was premiered at Lincoln Center, New York.

Dr. Smart’s compositions are published by Margun Music (G. Schirmer) and his work has been recorded on the Mastersound, Capstone and Albany labels. His CDs The Major’s Letter, which features his songs for voice and piano, American Beauty - a ragtime bouquet; Hot Sonatas, a collection of jazz-influenced chamber music; and Turtle Dreams of Flight, original music for solo piano performed by the composer, have all been released recently by Albany Records. His Song of the Holy Ground for string quartet and piano won the 2008 John Donald Robb Musical Trust Composers’ Competition and was premiered at the 2009 Robb Composers’ Symposium at the University of New Mexico.

Dr. Smart has spent two residencies in Japan, teaching in programs at Osaka University and Kobe College. He has also taught in Indonesia as “Distinguished Lecturer in Jazz” under the auspices of the Fulbright program. From 1999-2003, he served as Chairman of the UNF Music Department. Gary Smart is currently a Presidential Professor of Music at the University of North Florida.

Visit Dr. Smart on the web at garysmart.net.