Bassist and composer Graham Smith enjoys a busy freelance career, performing and recording in diverse musical settings from orchestral to rock & roll. Recent highlights include touring North America, the Caribbean and Asia with Absolute Journey Tribute in 2019, and playing in the pit orchestras for several Toronto-based musicals, including the highly acclaimed 2017 production of Life After (winner of six Dora awards) by The Musical Stage Co.
Graham currently teaches double bass and theory at Branksome Hall’s Music Conservatory and maintains his own studio in central Toronto offering instruction on the double bass and electric bass, and in all areas of music theory.
As a composer, Graham’s interests span the genres of contemporary classical and jazz. Notable works include a sixty-minute requiem mass for orchestra and chorus, and a three-movement suite for jazz ensemble. In 2016 Graham was a featured composer for Art Song Lab in Vancouver where his piece Shadow Street was premiered. He’s also in demand as an arranger, transcriber and copyist.
Graham received his PhD from York University in 2016 and was awarded a prestigious SSHRC scholarship for his dissertation research which focuses on the requiem mass. He also holds an MA from York and a BMus from Queen’s University in Kingston, ON. Graham has been a winner of numerous awards during his studies including the Lawrence Heisey Graduate Award at York, and the Graham George Memorial Scholarship in Composition at Queen’s.
Graham resides in Toronto’s Christie Pits neighbourhood with his wife, cellist and author Erika Nielsen. For more information please visit grahamsmithphd.com.