2018 Adjudicators

Tracy Smith

Open/Diploma Guitar

Called “a great musician…full of feeling and colors,” by composer Jacques Hétu, Dr. Tracy Anne

Smith is garnering increasing praise for her expressive performances, rich tonal palette and musical control. Cuban guitarist Leo Brouwer praised her “polyphonic hands” and “tremendous sound,” while American iconoclast Benjamin Verdery commended her “ability to express the emotion of a work to its core.”

Smith has performed in North America, Mexico, Italy, Germany, Spain and England.  Her solo CD, Lilac.Star.Bird, presents masterworks of the 20th and 21st centuries.

As a member of ChromaDuo with Canadian guitar visionary Rob MacDonald, she commissions, arranges, premieres and records new music.  ChromaDuo’s debut CD features five world-premiere recordings; their second showcases their arrangements of works by Debussy and Ravel was released in 2016.

Following degrees at Yale and University of Toronto, she completed a Doctorate at Peabody Conservatory under the guidance of Manuel Barrueco.