Nathan Smith

Nathan Smith
A native of Northern California, Nathan Parker Smith is an active performer and composer currently residing in Brooklyn, New York. In 2009, he formed the “Nathan Parker Smith Large Ensemble,” an eighteen-member ensemble regularly performing original music throughout New York, including recent performances shows at Fat Cat, Spike Hill, Cameo, the Tea Lounge, Shapeshifter Lab, and the Greene Space at WNYC.

Nathan writes:
My piece is entitled The Wyoming Matter, named after a bizarre and widely unknown incident in the ports of New York during the 1940’s. My goal in writing this piece is to both experiment with the musical ideas and techniques discussed during the summer intensive, and to write for this new unfamiliar instrumentation while attempting to maintain my own voice and style. The first minute begins with great intensity and dissonance and is very densely orchestrated and establishes most of the harmonic and melodic material that will be used in the entire composition. The main theme appears in different duet groupings after this exposition and the piece mellows. The middle section of the composition will feature much lighter orchestration, but will eventually return to the intensity of the beginning. At the end a slower tempo begins. My plan is to continue with similar melodic material using the juxtaposition of duple and triple meters to set up a groove.

listen to Nathan’s Spin: