LAUREN SMITH is a multi-faceted musician from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, currently based in New York City. She specializes as a conductor and oboist.

Lauren most recently made her debut with Les Violons du Roy in Québec. She is passionate about presenting works authentically and personably. Lauren was a Conducting Fellow at Domaine Forget, receiving mentorship from Yannick Nezet-Seguin and Kensho Watanabe. There, she was selected to conduct Orchestre Métropolitain in a public masterclass and Les Violons du Roy in concert. Lauren also recently served as Music Director for the American Gothic Performing Arts Festival’s To Be Heard: Shadows in America program featuring works by Copland, Price, and Joel Thompson.

As an oboist, Lauren has performed engagements on oboe/English horn with various ensembles including the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, Baton Rouge Symphony Orchestra, and more. Lauren was selected as an oboist for the Chautauqua Music School Festival Orchestra 2022 summer season. She was also a 2023 Fellow at the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival in affiliation with the Yale School of Music, performing in weekly concerts alongside fellows, faculty, and guest artists. She was also First Prize winner of the 2022 Baton Rouge Music Club Competition and presented a recital as winner of the competition’s Instrumental Division. Her primary instrumental mentors include Richard Killmer and Titus Underwood.

As founder of the Louisiana Art Music Collective, Lauren serves as the organization’s Executive and Artistic Director. The Collective reaches hundreds of members of the south Louisiana community, offering free concert experiences featuring works by numerous composers.

Lauren is the former Adjunct Instructor of Oboe at Houghton University and served as Teaching Intern at the Eastman Community Music School. She also has a private oboe studio, and taught students at the University of Rochester. After careful faculty review, Lauren was awarded the Eastman School of Music’s prestigious Graduate Teaching Assistant Prize for the 2023-24 school year. Additionally, her administrative experience includes interning for the Gateways Music Festival and assisting behind the scenes for numerous performances in Rochester, NY and New York, NY. She was also an Organizer for Context Conference: Contextualizing Equity & Inclusion in Music, the first U.S. academic conference with such a focus.

Lauren holds degrees from Louisiana State University Ogden Honors College & School of Music (BM, summa cum laude) and the Eastman School of Music (MM). At Eastman, she also studied conducting with Brad Lubman.

Lauren Smith is a proud recipient of a Kovner Fellowship at The Juilliard School. She studies Orchestral Conducting there with David Robertson.

Beyond music, Lauren is family-oriented, a passionate writer, and an amateur connoisseur of Louisiana cuisine.