Martinu on creating beautiful music: “It must be beautiful, or it wouldn’t be worth the effort.” Cited in: Calum MacDonald, “Bohuslav Martinu: Cosmopolitan Dreamer”, BBC Music, August 2009, p.45.

When Spanish cellist Pablo Casals was in his seventies, he retired from the concert stage and lived in Prades, Southern France. Casals began each day by playing from Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier on the piano (1), then heading out for a walk with his German shepherd, cocking an ear for birdsong and saluting the snow-capped peak […]

In 1995, Bjork released a big band jazz cover of Betty Hutton’s 1948 hit “Blow a Fuse”. This was a cover of an Austrian song “Und jetzt ist es still” by Hans Lang and Erich Meder. Bjork said of the song: Isn’t that the best song you’ve heard for five years? In a way it […]

GREG SMITH Composer, arranger, and pianist Greg Smith is an Australian composer and pianist based in New South Wales.  Greg majored in piano and composition at The University of Newcastle, completing a Bachelor of Music with first-class honours with a university medal in 2001.  He completed a Master of Creative Arts in piano performance, studying […]

Title: Sleepy BearComposer: Greg SmithInstrumentation: PianoPerformer: Greg Smith (22 March 2009) Your browser does not support the audio element. Sheet music

“One of things that’s been forgotten in music for a long time is the ability to be nakedly emotional”. David Lang, composer Cited in “When Opera Is New and Unproved”, Anne Midgette, The Washington Post, 7 September 2008.

PERFORMANCE BIOGRAPHY GREG SMITH Certifications and degrees: – 1996: Associate of Music, Australia (A. mus. A.) in piano performance – 1998: Licentiate of Music, Australia (L. mus. A.) in piano performance – 2001: Bachelor of Music, with honours, class I (University Medal).  University of Newcastle.  Double major in piano and composition. – 2003: Master of […]

“The heights by great men reached and kept were not attained by sudden flight, but they, while their companions slept, were toiling upward in the night.” Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, The Ladder of St. Augustine

“Creativity is inventing, experimenting, growing, taking risks, breaking rules, making mistakes, and having fun.” — Mary Lou Cook, American community activist and author Reagan, M., Phillips, B. (1995)  The All-American Quote Book. United States: Harvest House, p. 68.

Title: The Battle of the Somme Composer: Greg Smith Performer: Greg Smith Instrumentation: Piano Product medium: MP3 download (25 tracks; 73:00) Related products: – Full score (PDF download). 80 pages. Background: In 1916 France was struggling to fend off German occupation. It had become apparent that to break the stalemate Britain may need to increase […]