Marie Smith
About
I recently taught at Colby College as an adjunct music associate - I taught private lessons, coached small ensembles, and played principal horn for the Colby Symphony Orchestra as well as the Colby Wind Ensemble. I received my doctoral degree from the Eastman School of Music where I studied under Prof Peter Kurau and taught secondary lessons to University of Rochester River Campus students. My masters degree was earned at University of North Carolina School of the Arts where I studied under the tutelage of Dr. Maria Serkin. Additionally while I was there I taught a small home studio and worked for ArtistCorps (a UNCSA outreach program) where I taught private and group lessons to brass players ranging from 5th - 9th grade. I earned my bachelors degree at Utah State University.
My teaching philosophy is positive student-centered and focuses on equal emphasis on both art (musicianship) and craft (technical proficiency). I work closely with each student to determine their strengths, weaknesses, goals, and passions to meet them where they are and help them get to where they want to go. I strongly believe that a solid grasp of the craft of horn playing allows students the freedom to express their artistic thoughts through the horn. Additionally, a focus on musicality is an excellent tool to help develop good physical habits on the horn. This is why – in the footsteps of my teachers, W. Peter Kurau, Dr. Maria Serkin, and Maura McCune Corvington – I use both technical and musical, art and craft, approaches to producing engaging artistry on the horn. My students know that I aim to make the learning process and performance process enjoyable as well as challenging. I hope every student I work with is able to echo this student evaluation – “I was always challenged by the music she assigned, but I was always able to play it, often surprising myself at how good my playing was.”
I recommend every student to own a copy of Kopprasch 60 Selected Studies for Horn as well as one of the Maxime Alphonse 200 Progressive Studies for horn - whichever book of the six is the approrpiate level for the individual student. Any texts beyond these two will be decided based on the specific needs of the student as we progress together.