An educator, composer, electronic musician, and vocalist from Atlanta, GA, J. Andrew Wright Smith (b. 1992) is zealous about the intersections between acousmatic sound, performers, and improvisation. His works often delve into personal narratives and how they can enrich abstract mediums. As a vocalist, he maintains a passion for visceral, strange, and electrifying sounds.
Andrew’s works have been performed at SEAMUS conferences, SPLICE Institute and Festival, Third Practice Electroacoustic Music Festival, New Music on the Point, Electric LaTex, and PASIC. In 2022, he was one of the finalists in the ASCAP/SEAMUS Student Commission Competition for his piece Arbitrary/Peremptory. A graduate of the University of North Texas’s PhD program in Composition, Andrew’s mentors have included Joseph Klein, Panayiotis Kokoras, John Nelson, and Elainie Lillios.
His dissertation Utterances: Approaching a New Acousmatic Praxis examines the philosophical roots of acousmatic music and attempts to modernize Pierre Schaeffer’s conceptions of sound and emphasize the significance of the ways that sound is used by composers as the crux of a modern acousmatic praxis.
Currently Assistant Professor of Practice in Music Technology at the University of Texas San Antonio, Andrew has also taught electronic music and composition at Bowling Green State University, Owens Community College, and UNT.