Conference Hosts

Christian Smith and Geralyn Giovannetti

Geralyn Giovannetti is Professor of Oboe at Brigham Young University and a member of the faculty quintet, Orpheus Winds. She is also the Associate Director (Undergraduate Studies) of the School of Music. She graduated from the University of Western Ontario in her native Canada. Geralyn has a Doctor of Musical Arts Degree from the University of Michigan where she was awarded a full scholarship and was the teaching assistant to Harry Sargous. As a member of the award winning Canadian quintet, Essex Winds, she has performed at the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival, the Festival of the Sound, Roy Thomson Hall, the Glenn Gould Auditorium and as Resident Artists at the Banff School of Fine Arts. Essex Winds have recorded frequently for Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and were selected by the Canadian Music Center to record the compact disc "Quintette". This CD was cited in a Fanfare magazine review as "destined to become a modern day classic" and in 1997 it was nominated for a Juno award. The Essex Winds have also released two recordings of classical and twentieth century works on the Furiant label. Dr. Giovannetti has taught at the Universities of Western Ontario, Windsor, and Michigan. She has performed with the orchestras of London (Canada), Kitchener, Calgary, and Utah, as well as the Canadian Chamber Orchestra. She was Principal Oboe of the Windsor Symphony Orchestra from 1983-1990. During those years she performed as soloist with the orchestra in concerto works by Mozart, Vaughan Williams, Françaix, J.S. Bach, Brian Cherney, and John Weinzweig. Dr. Giovannetti has performed at the International Double Reed Society conferences in Tempe AZ., Madison WI, Banff Alberta, Austin TX., Ithaca NY, and at the National Flute Conventions in Chicago and Washington DC. She has performed on university campuses throughout Texas, Ohio, Michigan, New York, Nevada, Idaho, Utah, and Ontario. With Orpheus Winds she has also performed in Mexico and Brazil.

Christian Smith has been on faculty at the BYU School of Music since 1997. In addition to his responsibilities as the bassoon professor, he teaches instrumental conducting, directs the woodwind chamber music program, and regularly performs with Orpheus Winds, the resident faculty wind quintet. An active orchestral musician, Dr. Smith has played under such conductors as Robert Shaw, Raymond Leppard, John Williams, Joseph Silverstein, Maxim Shostakovich, Keith Lockhart, and others. Likewise, he has performed with the Utah Symphony, Utah Opera, Ballet West Orchestra, Toledo Symphony, Ann Arbor Symphony, Flint (Michigan) Symphony, Michigan Chamber Players, Utah Chamber Artists, Colors of the Baroque, and the Canyon Winds woodwind quintet. Currently he is principal bassoonist with the Orchestra at Temple Square in Salt Lake City. As a studio musician, he has recorded under the Telarc, Biddulph, Prima, Shadow Mountain, and Mormon Tabernacle Choir record labels, as well as for numerous film and television scores. From 1993-1997 he served as Coordinator of Woodwind Studies at Ricks College (Rexburg, Idaho) where he founded the Ricks College Chamber Winds ensemble and frequently conducted the Symphony and Chamber Orchestras. His most influential teachers/mentors have been Clyn Barrus (BYU), Glenn Williams (BYU), and Richard Beene (University of Michigan).