Ecstatically beautiful • blessed with inspiration • thoroughly engaging • making ancient things modern is more common in Europe, but few such endeavors by Peteris Vasks, Giya Kancheli or Arvo Pärt have Smith’s lyrical immediacy and ability to find great musical variety while maintaining an overall coherent personality • assembled… with intelligence and originality • Breathtaking—David Patrick Stearns, Philadelphia Inquirer
One of the major events of the music season • Piffaro… took a big risk when it devoted an entire program to a commission by… one composer • Smith… produced the kind of success I hoped he’d give us • a sonic kaleidoscope… beautifully serene… rousing… exultant • Vespers is a triumph—Tom Purdom, Broad Street Review
Stunning • one of the finest concerts I’ve heard in at least the last decade • Smith’s choral writing… moves from start to finish in an unbroken arch of exposition, development and resolution that seems to unfold naturally before your eyes • the music envelops you and carries you • marvelous • a gem of a score • Masterful—Michael Caruso, Chestnut Hill Local