Stuart Saunders Smith died on June 3, 2024. He composed more than 300 works, with instrumentation that included percussion and non-percussion instruments, and ensembles of various sizes from small to large.

According to Robert McCormick, “The music of Stuart Saunders Smith is unique, eclectic, often esoteric and always full of surprises. Perhaps even more important is the originality and diversity of each of his compositions, His writing includes several major percussion-theatre works, musical mobiles, music for unspecified instrumentation, music of indeterminacy, mixed chamber works, and music of rhythmic complexity. His literature has required the percussionist-performer to develop new contrapuntal techniques, interpretive and listening skills of a new music language. His special emphasis on vibraphone literature is considered by many scholars to be without peer as a contribution in the development of masterpiece literature for the instrument. His soli for vibraphone, such as ‘Plenty’ and ‘New England’ are among the few works that extend both an intellectual and emotional range for the instrument. His composition ‘The Authors’ for solo marimbist with spoken text is among the most unique and landmark works for solo marimba.”

Benjamin Toth said that Smith’s Links series of vibraphone essays “single-handedly advanced the repertoire for vibraphone, thanks to its complex yet lyrical nature. It should be noted that Stuart’s work has also brought much needed attention to instruments like the glockenspiel and drumset, as well as the snare drum.”

Stuart Saunders Smith was born in 1948 in Portland, Maine. He started studying composition and percussion at age six with Charles Newcomb, who exposed him to many musical styles. Smith attributed a “physical” form of music composition to Newcomb. From age 13, Smith began performing in clubs and dance venues. At age 18, Smith attended Berklee School of Music where he studied counterpoint, harmony, and musical arrangements. He continued to study percussion and composition at Hartt College of Music (1967–72) and the University of Illinois at Urbana (1973–77). His percussion teachers included Fred Buda, Alan Dawson, Alexander Lepak, and Thomas Siwe. 

His music has been categorized a focusing on four primary areas: music of extreme rhythmic and melodic intricacy; musical mobiles with instrumental parts that freely interact; text-based compositions; and trans-media systems for any kind of performing artist(s). Smith used language — in the form of body language, melody, and speech — as the core of each of these styles. His percussion-theater music included such pieces as “Poems I II III,” “…And Points North,” “Tunnels,” and “Clay Singing.”

Over 80 of Smith’s compositions have been recorded on a variety of labels, and anthologies of new music have included his theater music and music of rhythmic intricacy. A six-CD set of his music titled At 70: The Percussion Music of Stuart Saunders Smith was published by Chen Li Recordings in 2020.

Articles on his music were published regularly in such journals as Perspectives of New Music, Percussive Notes, Interface, and ex tempore. Smith himself was the author of several articles on his music and the music of others. He authored two books: Twentieth Century Music Scores, an anthology (Prentice-Hall 1989); and Words and Spaces, an anthology (co-edited with Thomas DeLio, University Press, 1989). He is the subject of a book titled The Music of Stuart Saunders Smith by John Welsh.

Toth cited Smith as “a generous teacher, offering invaluable insights to each student, whether they are studying the music of J.S. Bach or Thelonious Monk.” Stuart and his wife, Sylvia, frequently offered week-long summer intensives for students from throughout the United States at their home in Vermont, and Stuart was a mainstay on the faculty of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County for many years. Smith organized hundreds of concerts of new music, functioning as a lobbyist for the arts for the American Society of University Composers during the Reagan presidency. After his retirement from UMBC, he and Sylvia moved to rural Vermont, where he was actively composing new works up until his passing. This change of scenery in Vermont also affected his style; his works were often longer and more simplistic compared to some of his earlier, highly complex works.

Stuart and Sylvia were staunch supporters of the Percussive Arts Society for decades, as PASIC performers, lecturers, sponsors, and exhibitors. Stuart was Editor of Percussive Notes, Research Edition from 1982–84, and wrote numerous articles for the PAS publications. He was a founding member of the PAS New Music/Research Committee. helping to create and curate the committee’s Focus Day at PASIC. His music was first performed at PASIC in 1976, and a world premiere of one of his pieces will be performed at PASIC in November 2024.

His awards and honors include three UMBC Research Grants, The Hartt College Distinguished Alumni Award, East/West Artist Award, three Maryland State Artists Fellowships, the National Endowment for the Arts Composer’s Fellowship, the PAS Service Award, and the Atlantic Center’s Master Artist Award.