Tonight’s concert is a return to the North Carolina Symphony for Herb Smith, who conducted Let’s Groove Tonight: Motown Meets the Philly Sound in February, 2024.

Herb Smith is a regular guest conductor with the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra. He frequently conducts the Syracuse Orchestra and currently directs the Eastman Youth Jazz Orchestra at the University of Rochester’s Eastman School of Music. He also guest conducts for All-State and All-County bands, orchestras, and jazz ensembles across New York State. 

Voted “Best Instrumentalist” of Rochester 2022 by CITY Magazine, Smith currently holds the third trumpet position in the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra. He has served as principal trumpet in the Gateways Festival Orchestra, which made its Carnegie Hall debut in 2022. He also serves as principal trumpet in the Gateways Brass Collective, a nationally touring brass quintet, and has been a frequent guest with the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra and Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra. His Freedom Trio (composed of trumpet played through electronics, bass, and drums) performs around the country. 

A graduate of the Eastman School of Music, Smith is also an active composer and a trumpet instructor at the Community Education Division of the Eastman School of Music.