Aaron Smith Trumpet Interview
Welcome to the show notes for Episode #125 of The Other Side of the Bell – A Trumpet Podcast. This episode features trumpeter Aaron Smith. Listen to or download the episode below:
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About Aaron Smith
Aaron Smith is an active freelance trumpet player in Los Angeles, CA. He also writes, arranges, and publishes music through his small business, TrumpetSmith Publishing (ASCAP). In addition, he serves on the Hearing Board for the American Federation of Musicians (AFM) Local 47 and on the Board of Directors for the Recording Musicians Association Los Angeles (RMALA).
Raised in an Army household with musician parents who played jazz and r&b, and later to receive classical conservatory training, Smith thrives on versatility, consistency, and accurate delivery of musical intent. As a trusted freelance musician in Los Angeles, he performs regularly for live orchestral events, musical theatre, films, independent recording projects, streaming, television, and video games.
He has recorded on film/tv projects for celebrated composers including Alan Menken, Bear McCreary, Branford Marsalis, Germaine Franco, Heitor Pereira, Kris Bowers, Rob Simonsen, and Terence Blanchard; on sound recordings for Adrian Younge, Austin Wintory, Charles Gaines, Dr. Dre, Joachim Horsley, John Daversa, and X Ambassadors. He has performed as a sideman in bands on the Academy Awards, Dancing with the Stars, Disney’s Encore!, Ellen, the LATE LATE Show, and The Voice. He’s also appeared as a sideman onscreen for films including Babylon and Joker: Folie à Deux; and tv commercials for Capital One and Microsoft. He’s backed major artists including Beyoncé, Billie Eilish, Common, Danny Elfman, Jennifer Holliday, Josh Groban, Kelly Clarkson, Labrinth, Lady Gaga, Sigur Rós, Steve Lacy, and more. He has also performed for contemporary/new music ensembles and series including Alarm Will Sound, the Industry’s Hopscotch Opera, Jacaranda, Southwest Chamber Music, wasteLAnd, WildUp, Green Umbrella, Monday Evening concert series, and Noon to Midnight Festival. In the L.A. theater world, Smith performs regularly at the Hollywood Pantages, Dolby, La Mirada Theaters and Pasadena Playhouse. Some notable shows from these theaters with Smith on solo trumpet include Back to the Future, Beetlejuice, Color Purple, Jelly’s Last Jam, Les Misérables, Moulin Rouge, Wicked, and the Wiz.
As a composer, Smith strives to curate a top-tier experience for brass players especially. The primary focus is exploring boundaries while expressing a story; both through adapted arrangements structurally sound to the composer’s intent and through his own original compositions. His work has been performed internationally. He has also created original chamber music commissioned by Marissa Benedict for University of Minnesota, Jim Self for University of Southern California, also by the Interlochen Center for the Arts, and Stomvi-USA. 
Smith’s training as a music performance major includes a Master of Fine Arts degree from California Institute of the Arts where he studied with Edward Carroll and John Fumo; and a Bachelor of Music degree from the Eastman School of Music with professor James Thompson. He is also a graduate of the Interlochen Arts Academy with Stanley Friedman.
Aaron Smith
Podcast Credits
- “A Room with a View“ – composed and performed by Howie Shear
- Audio Engineer – Preston Shepard
- Cover Art – Phil Jordan
- Podcast Host – John Snell
Kate Warren is an internationally acclaimed hornist and music educator. She currently serves as a College Lecturer in Music at Ocean County College and is also the featured French horn soloist for the Tony and Emmy award winning Broadway show 
Equally at home in a multitude of musical idioms, Allen Vizzutti has visited 70 countries, Japan 49 times, and every state in the union to perform with a rainbow of artists and ensembles including Chick Corea, Doc; Severinsen, the NBC Tonight Show Band, the Airmen Of Note, the Army Blues and Army Symphony Orchestra, Chuck Mangione, Woody Herman, Japan’s NHK Orchestra and the New Tokyo Philharmonic, the Budapest Radio Orchestra, the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, the Leipzig Wind Symphony, the Slovenian National Orchestra and the Kosei Wind Orchestra. Performing as a classical and a jazz artist, often in the same evening, he has appeared as guest soloist with symphony orchestras in Japan, Germany, St. Louis, Seattle, Rochester N.Y., Dallas, Milwaukee, Buffalo, Phoenix, Edmonton, Vancouver, Seattle and Minnesota to name a few. Music lovers in Germany, Poland, England, Sweden, Brazil, Canada, Japan, Australia and the United States have heard his brilliant sound over the airwaves of national television. Allen’s status as an artist has led to solo performances at the Hollywood Bowl, Carnegie Hall, Newport Jazz Festival, Banff Center for the Performing Arts, Montreaux Jazz Festival, the Teton, Vail, Aspen and Breckenridge Music Festivals, the Charles Ives Center, Suntory Hall & Opera City Hall in Tokyo and Lincoln Center in New York City.
Imani Duhe’ is a versatile young musician from Atlanta, Georgia, known for her rich, soulful trumpet playing. Starting music at a young age, she’s been surrounded by different styles of music her entire life. Imani has performed regularly with orchestras, chamber ensembles, and in small solo settings as a trumpeter for over 12 years. Through her love for the trumpet and music she also discovered a talent for composing songs, which she performs with her ensembles. Imani has performed on podcasts, in multiple large music venues including the Hollywood Bowl, Carnegie Hall, and The Walt Disney Concert Hall. She has had the opportunity to play for live televised events and popular music festivals and continues to make her name known as a sought-after musician. She has worked with artists such as Ms. Lauryn Hill, Ani Difranco, Daniel Pemberton, Metro Boomin, T-Pain, and more. Imani also teaches for the Youth Orchestra of Los Angeles as a trumpet instructor and brass specialist and gives master classes around the greater Los Angeles area. Ms. Duhe received her Bachelors from Manhattan School of Music and her Masters at the University of Southern California.
You may not know Dylan Skye Hart by name, but you have heard him play horn. Proud Latino and Los Angeles native, Dylan is a busy freelance musician. Depending on the day, he can be found recording for video games, motion pictures, theme parks, or television shows.
