Stuart Saunders Smith

Stuart Saunders Smith (16 March 1948 - 3 June 2024) was an American composer and percussionist. After having studied composition and music theory at three music institutions, Smith was based in Vermont, United States, with his wife Sylvia. He produced almost 200 compositions, half of which were written for percussion instruments with a focus on the vibraphone. Life Smith was born in Portland, Maine. He started studying composition and percussion at six years old with Charles Newcomb, who was previously a vaudeville performer and exposed him to many musical styles e.g. Latin music, waltz, Dixieland. Smith has attributed a “physical” form of music composition to Newcomb. From the age of 13, Smith began performing publicly in clubs and dance venues. At the age of 18, Smith went on to Berklee School of Music where he furthered his studies in counterpoint, harmony and musical arrangements. He continued to study percussion and composition at Hartt College of Music from 1967 to 1972. He received his DMA in music composition at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in 1977, where he studied under Herbert Brün, Salvatore Martirano, and Benjamin Johnston. Alongside Newcomb, his other p