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David Smith is currently Professor Emeritus at Western Connecticut State University. He served on the faculty at Western from 1970 -2017. He has degrees from Mansfield University and East Carolina University. Percussion studies with Robin Engelman, John Beck, Brad Spinney, Harold Jones and Fred Hinger. He received several awards during his tenure at WCSU including: Teaching Excellence Award from the University, Higher Education Educator of the Year from Connecticut Music Educators Association and Legacy in Music Education Award from Yamaha.
He performed with the New Haven Symphony for over 40 years and earned the principal position in 1988. He retired from the orchestra in 2016.
In addition to the New Haven Symphony, he also performed with many regional orchestras as a percussionist and timpanist. He was the percussionist with the Paul Whiteman Band under conductor Maurice Peress. Performances included concerts throughout the United States and Italy. It included a live television program on Italian Public TV in Rome.
As a soloist he performed many concertos and recitals throughout the Connecticut and New York area. He performed at the 1989 PASIC in Nashville performing two works by Milton Babbitt. œBeaten Paths for solo marimba and œHomily for Snare Drum.
