Scott McBride Smith

D.M.A. University of Southern California; M.M. University of Kansas; B.A. Fairhaven College

Scott McBride Smith is a recognized leader in music education. As the Cordelia Brown Murphy Professor of Piano Pedagogy at the University of Kansas, he focuses on national issues of teacher training and piano pedagogy. As President and CEO of the International Institute for Young Musicians, he leads a summer program offering specialized training for gifted young performers from around the world.

A co-author of the groundbreaking new series American Popular Piano, he has helped create a course of study for today's student - providing tools that inspire the necessary hard work while playing music they love. As former president of Royal American Conservatory Examinations, he worked to establish standards by championing national curriculum and assessment in the USA. And as a former division president of Music Teachers National Association and president of the California Association of Professional Music Teachers, he works on concerns that affect all professionals in the music teaching community.

A long-time teacher of prize-winning students in Irvine, California, Dr. Smith;s students have been California State Champions in the years 1988, 1990, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2004, 2006 and 2008. Former students have been First Prize winners in the Naftsger Competition, Tchaikovsky Competition and in competitions of the Music Teachers National Association. Amir Khosrowpour, Dr. Smith';s student for 11 years, was the 2001-2002 Steinway National Collegiate Champion while a student of Dr. Jack Winerock at the University of Kansas. His student Jeremy Siskind was the 2002 winner of the ASACAP Foundation Young Jazz Composer award.

Dr. Smith is co-author of the college text The Well-Tempered Keyboard Teacher and associate editor of the magazine Clavier Companion. He is co-author of Christopher Norton's Guide to Microjazz.

The growing interest in his philosophical and cognitive approach to music teaching has resulted in appearances across the US, Canada, Europe, Asia, Australia, and South America, including workshops and showcases at every MTNA Conference since 1999. But he has never lost the ability to see humor in the profession and laugh.

Dr. Smith has served as Visiting Professor at the Bela Bartok Conservatory in Lima, Peru; at the Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts;  in China, at the Sichaun Conservatory of Music and at the Shenzhen Arts School; and in Taiwan, sponsored by the International Piano Teaching Foundation.

Scott McBride Smith received his doctorate from the University of Southern California, where he was co-winner of the Outstanding Graduate in Piano award. A former member of the Music Teachers National Association National Board, he is also a member of the European Piano Teachers Association and a Level One Certified member the Early Childhood Music and Movement Association.