Joseph Smith Collection

American pianist, author and lecturer Joseph Smith was born in New York City on July 4, 1948. His piano studies were with Olegna Fuschi and Seymour Bernstein. His November 5th, 1974 debut at Carnegie Hall was followed by nearly annual New York recitals at Carnegie and Alice Tully Halls and other venues. Smith’s recitals featured works from the standard repertoire together with lesser-known works by such composers as Louis Moreau Gottschalk, Percy Grainger, Charles Griffes, Seymour Bernstein, Harry T. Burleigh, and Duke Ellington. Smith’s writings about less familiar repertoire appeared regularly in the “Rare Finds” feature of Piano Today, and in his well-researched notes for his own recitals. His many articles on a range of topics can be found in other sources such as Clavier and Piano and Keyboard. Smith also recorded over a dozen albums and edited a similar number of performer editions of neglected repertoire. Among these publications are Piano Discoveries, Romancing the Piano, and Rare Finds for Piano. Joseph Smith combined his fascination for research and scholarship with his skill as a performer in frequent lecture-recitals. Joseph Smith died on March 23, 2015.