Ashley SMITH, CLARINET
Ashley Smith is a 2008 Academy Musician, studying under the tutelage of Academy Head of Winds, David Thomas. Ashley has composed and played various instruments since a young age. However upon hearing the sounds of Benny Goodman and Artie Shaw at the age of twelve, decided that the clarinet was the instrument for him. Ashley was accepted into the University of Western Australia Young Exhibition Academy at the age of thirteen as a flautist and composer. In 2001 Ashley received a UWA Excellence Scholarship and went on to complete a Bachelor of Music with First Class Honours (Performance / Musicology) and a Bachelor of Arts (English). From 2002 until 2007, Ashley studied with the West Australian Symphony Orchestra principal clarinetist, Allan Meyer. Throughout his studies Ashley won several prizes for both academic and performance achievement including the Bello Prize for Chamber Music and was twice awarded the University Chorale Society Prize for Music Literature and three times the Janet Anderson Woodwind Prize. Ashley was the 2006 winner of the Vose Memorial Concerto Competition and was a 2007 Wesley Music Scholar. For his honours graduation recital Ashley achieved the highest score ever awarded to performance student at the institution and was subsequently awarded the Lady Callaway Medal for the most outstanding music graduate. Most recently, Ashley was honored with the Edith Cowan Prize for the most outstanding student in academic music studies and the Sir Harold Bailey Award for the most outstanding graduate of the Faculty of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences. Ashley is also awaiting the result of a nomination by the Faculty for the J.A. Wood Prize for the most outstanding graduate of the University for 2008. Ashley has performed as a soloist, chamber and orchestral musician with various organizations and ensembles in Perth. Most notably, Ashley was the co-principal clarinetist of the Juniper Chamber Orchestra throughout 2006 and 2007. Ashley’s principal area of interest is in avant-garde art music and experimenting with unconventional approaches to music presentation, integrating his skills as a musician, actor and playwright. He has had several works written for him by Australian composers and has recorded new works for the Australian Music Centre.
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