On Monday, Feb. 17, senior Levi Smith will take the stage of Jameson Recital Hall and perform his senior recital. As a music major with an emphasis in composition and a minor in audio production, he will be exhibiting his skills in guitar and composition. His recital will consist of six total pieces, using woodwinds, piano and some brass instruments.
The compositions were all created for small chamber ensembles, four of which comprise a suite. Those in the suite were inspired by a piece written by Dan Pinkston titled “One Dawn, One Dusk,” written for piano, violin and clarinet. As these four pieces fall into their suite, they take on a more narrative style. During the writing process, Smith came up with the titles of these four songs first and then composed them to fit their titles.
“I had a name for each one before I wrote it,” Smith said. “So the process of writing it was just trying to make something that felt like it suited the name, which was fun and kind of a backward experience. I think most things that I make, I usually name them last. You try to find a name that encapsulates the things, just like making a thing that encapsulates the name.”
One struggle that Smith has when writing songs is concluding them, as he reflects, “That can be the hardest part of the process. I feel like figuring out endings has always been tricky for me. How do you end it without it feeling like it’s just over? It’s hard to conclude it in a way that feels new and effective.”
Hailing from Des Moines, Iowa, Smith began his music journey when he was 12 years old, picking up the banjo and taking off from there.
“I actually got into banjo because my sister got a ukelele,” notes Smith. “I was like, I need to learn an instrument because she’s learning an instrument and some of my other friends have instruments. My mom had tried to make me learn piano before and it didn’t stick. So I was like, ‘I want to play something cool, though.’”
During his senior year of high school, Smith began to revisit the piano so he could formally learn to read sheet music. He has since picked up the guitar and bass, which he plays on the Asbury Worship Collective album band. Smith has been a part of the album band since his sophomore year, though this year he has taken on a new role of music director.
Outside of his musical commitments at Asbury, Smith is in a band called SlowTown, which he started alongside Andrew Cruse ‘25 and John Golden ‘24. For his personal music, his long-time love for the band Mumford & Sons has impacted the style of music he writes and plays.
A few of his influences are the composers Arvo Pärt and Gustav Mahler. Pärt, a contemporary classical composer from Estonia, is known for his minimalist style. In comparison, Mahler was a Romantic period composer who created songs for orchestras made up of hundreds of musicians. Smith has found a way to balance some of Mahler’s influence with the small, minimalist chamber ensembles.
Smith’s recital will be on Feb. 17 at 7:30 p.m. in Jameson Recital Hall.
Photo courtesy of Levi Smith.
