Music Department Faculty

Brooks de Wetter Smith
James Gordon Hanes Distinguished Professor

Office: 2123 Kenan Music Building
Email: brooks@email.unc.edu
Phone: 919-962-2340

Brooks de Wetter Smith is in great demand as a recitalist, concerto soloist and masterclass teacher, having performed in 20 nations (Eastern- and Western Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and South America) and nearly all 50 states. His recordings are available on the Albany, Aurophon, Centaur, Christophorus, Crystal, and Paulinas labels, spanning baroque, romantic, and twentieth-centuries, and jazz-inspired repertoire. Many of his recordings include world premieres and works commissioned by or dedicated to him. His performances have been broadcast live on radio and television, including Radio Bremen, Bavarian Radio, Salzburg Radio, Radio/Television Hong Kong, and PBS affiliates in New Hampshire, Massachusetts, North Carolina, California and Nebraska. In the Spring of 2006 he joined tenor Frederico, the London Symphony Orchestra, and the Nashville Symphony to record four new CD's of arias, seasonal, patriotic and spiritual works. He has been featured at the festivals at Tanglewood, Salzburg, Carmel, and St. Malo, as well as numerous contemporary music festivals. In addition to his distinguished career as a performing and recording artist, he is also in considerable demand as an authority on avant-garde techniques. Recently, he has been actively engaged in exploring traditional Arabic improvisation techniques, an outgrowth of his long-standing interest in jazz. This search has led him to Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Egypt, Palestine, and Israel. Dr. de Wetter-Smith has combined his work in the Middle East with the study of Brazilian jazz/folk elements, suggesting a close connection between both Arabic music and western jazz traditions via West Africa. He was awarded a Fulbright Senior Professorship to teach at the Hochschule für Musik in Munich and Cologne as well as the Escola Superior in Lisbon, Portugal, and he is former President of the National Flute Association. Brooks de Wetter-Smith's editions of 19th-century repertoire are published by International Music Company and Southern Music Company. His principal teachers include James Galway, Jean-Pierre Rampal, Karlheinz Zöller, Walfrid Kujala and James Pappoutsakis. He holds a DMA degree from the Eastman School of Music and is the James Gordon Hanes Distinguished Professor in the Humanities at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

 

 

For an audio download of Brooks de Wetter-Smith's recent interview on NPR's "The Story," click here.

REVIEWS

"It is the best playing I have heard for a very long time. What can I say? He is a brilliant performer."

--James Galway

"I have always appreciated the finesse of his style, and hold his artistic qualities and technique in highest esteem. He is a marvelous musician and soloist."

-- Jean-Pierre Rampal

"From the beautifully serene opening of the first movement to the virtuosic fireworks in the finale of this brilliant new concerto, de Wetter-Smith enthralled his audience with his sensuous tone, exquisite phrasing and effortless technique. It was an altogether stunning performance."

-- Walfrid Kujala (Chicago Symphony Orchestra)

"He is master of an imposing technique - a distinguished exponent of his art."

-- Die Welt

"Brooks de Wetter-Smith reigns over his instrument with technical perfection. He emphasizes the use of diverse tonal colors and delights in musical imagery. His playing is rich in variety and full of excitement."

-- Weser Kurier

"He imbues the music with a wholly natural sense of flow. In his purity of tone, variety of attack, and interpretive nuances, de Wetter-Smith recalls Peter-Lukas Graf; in his felicity of articulation, James Galway comes to mind; in his fluency of phrasing, Jean-Pierre Rampal."

-- Fanfare

"Real Mastery!"

-- New York Times

"Awesome. [Outside In] knocked me sideways when I first heard it, and I still have it within easy reach. The playing is remarkable, easily some of the best in recent memory.... Others should take note of his class and dignity. A must buy."

-- American Record Guide

"First-rate musicianship and a powerful performance of captivating music."

-- Jerusalem Post

"De Wetter-Smith is an amazingly talented flutist, who exhibits a wide range of expression and virtuosity in his playing. He is a master of his instrument, and he delighted the audience with his nuanced and well-balanced performance."

-- Deseret News

"Surely no one - not even the conductor - could have anticipated what an outstanding musician de Wetter-Smith would be. The Orchestra itself, along with the conductor, performed as if inspired by his presence."

-- Fort Myers News-Press

"Lyrical yet powerful, these are truly compelling performances filled with nuance and emotive force. If there is a heaven for musicians who have "passed on," Debussy is sitting there listening to this disc."

-- Classical disCDigest

 

 

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