Stephanie Lynne Smith| Accompanist
Somewhere along the way to becoming a concert pianist, Stephanie fell in love with singers and discovered her passion for promoting composers and new compositions. After several decades of touring, conducting and producing, she is thrilled to live in Oregon full-time but makes herself available for interim work when called. Stephanie promotes a life of balance that includes the arts, self-care, and stress reduction.
Born and raised in Wichita Falls, Texas, Stephanie holds a Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance (1998) from University of Colorado at Boulder and a Master of Music in Chamber Music Performance (2001) from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. In the Bay Area, she served as Artistic Director for Queer Chorus of San Francisco from 2000-2008, commissioning “Halloween in the Castro: A Horror Opera” by Jack Curtis Dubowsky and the musical “Group Therapy” by June Bonacich, along with countless pieces for choir and solo voice. For decades, she was primarily focused in music direction for churches and worship conferences. In 2014, Stephanie concluded her formal career in worship leadership by serving as worship designer and leader for the Sunday 6pm services at Grace Cathedral. From 2012-2022, Stephanie toured as concert pianist with Broadway veteran Franc D’Ambrosio (The Godfather III/Phantom of the Opera) and had the privilege of witnessing and playing for the ceremony knighting him “Cavaliere” by the Italian government. As a performing artist, she was Artist in Residence for Shari Carlson Studio (San Francisco) and Bergstrasse Evangelical Lutheran Church (Ephrata, Pennsylvania), Worship Artist in Residence for St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church (Advent, Portland) and currently appears in concert with Merideth Kaye Clark and Susannah Mars. In August 2023, Stephanie was elevated to Artistic Director for the Newport Performing Arts Festival in Newport, Oregon, presenting workshops in performance, music theory and reading, performance anxiety management, and ensemble work. Her production company Miss Smith Presents produces the Diverse Voices series that showcases living and local composers. She can be found regularly accompanying her students in livestreams on the Miss Smith Presents YouTube channel. During pandemic, these livestreams raised over $20,000 for non-profits.
In October 2021, she accepted a staff teaching position in Portland at Resound NW: A Place to Sing and maintains her performance studios in Salem, Portland and San Francisco. After several decades of touring, conducting and interim work, she returned to her first love of chamber music by joining the Northwest Piano Trio in Fall of 2023. Recent projects include Love Wins benefit concerts for Center for Hope and Safety (Salem), benefit concerts to raise money for the education fund for a local trans youth, and a grief cabaret in San Francisco using the songs of William Finn.
She was raised Southern Baptist and had her eyes opened to the larger body of hymns and styles of worship when she moved to the Bay Area in 1999. Stephanie has had the privilege of leading worship in ecumenical services and immersed herself in Earth rituals and practices of non-Christian faith communities. She is particularly drawn to Taize, a style of meditative prayer with repetitive songs, meant to center the individual worshipper. As Artist-in-Residence for Bridgeport UCC, Stephanie looks forward to providing stability and respite during sabbatical and staff changes. She is drawn to the anti-racist and peace work Bridgeport is called to do and is committed to programming worship that supports that call.
ARTIST STATEMENT: Thoughts and prayers alone do not affect change. Meditation is not meant to heal the world. It is meant to heal us. We cannot change our world by thoughts alone, but we can center ourselves in community so we are ready for the difficult task of social justice work.