Music Director

Orcenith Smith

Philharmonic Orchestra Music Director and Conductor

Orcenith Smith’s leadership has been acclaimed in concert after concert with reviews of his performances garnering words like “triumphant” and “dazzling.” An honors graduate of the Cincinnati Conservatory, he is currently the Director of Orchestras and Opera at DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana. Past distinctions include the music directorships of the Chicago Youth Symphony and our own Philharmonic Orchestra, winner of an ASCAP Award for “Adventuresome Programming” at DePauw, and being named the inaugural recipient of the Cassel Grubb University Professorship at DePauw in 1999. He was the American Artistic Director of the Vienna International Youth and Music Festival in Austria, has been on the podiums of symphonies throughout our nation, including, the Seattle Symphony, the Oregon Symphony, the Indianapolis Symphony, the Louisville Orchestra, the Dayton Philharmonic, the Terre Haute, Lafayette, and Carmel Symphony Orchestras.

In 2018, he conducted the Indianapolis Symphony in thirteen performances of its Discovery Series concerts and continues his role of fifteen years as the cover conductor of the ISO’s Yuletide Celebration. He has taught at the Interlochen Arts Camp and has led academic All-State orchestras in many states across the US. He has also conducted the DePauw Orchestras around the world, including concerts in Japan, Spain, France, England, Germany, Austria, Italy, Canada, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Phoenix, Denver, Philadelphia, Atlanta, New York’s Carnegie Recital Hall and Washington’s Kennedy Center Terrace Theater. In competitions, he has conducted the BBC Orchestra (London) and the West Berlin, Germany Radio Orchestra.