Ellen Dinwiddie Smith

Ellen Dinwiddie Smith made history as the Minnesota Orchestra’s first-ever female brass player upon joining the ensemble in 1993. Her trailblazing career, during which she held both low and high horn chairs, is a rare feat among major orchestras. Smith’s influence extends beyond Minnesota, as she also held positions with the Fort Worth (Co-Principal) and Charleston, SC (Third) Symphonies. Her professional career spans over 40 years, during which she has performed on stages worldwide, from Europe, Japan, South Africa, to the West and East Coast, including Carnegie Hall. Smith’s pioneering role as a female brass player continues to inspire musicians at all levels of development.

As a pedagogue, Smith has given lectures and master classes worldwide and is a regular featured artist at international music conventions and festivals. She is also a Professor of Horn at the University of Minnesota (Twin Cities). She is dedicated to teaching young people to fully develop their potential. Her students now hold positions all over the globe as performers, educators, and scholars, as well as in many other occupations (too many to mention!).

Previously, she was a featured artist at the Mid-South Horn Workshop in Austin, Texas, and performed with her colleagues at the Mid-North Horn Workshop at the University of St. Thomas. She was a featured artist at the 2003 International Horn Society Workshop at Indiana University. Smith has served as an artist-teacher on the faculty of the Sewanee Summer Music Festival and spent many summers on the faculty of the Kendall Betts Horn Camp in New Hampshire. She has performed and toured with the Cleveland Orchestra and as a guest with the Kennedy Center Orchestra and the Quad City Symphony Orchestra. Smith has performed many summers at the Alexandria Festival of the Lakes.

Smith is a Curtis Institute of Music graduate who studied with Myron Bloom. Before Curtis, she attended the Juilliard School and the University of Texas at Austin. Additional teachers and mentors include Wayne Barrington, Greg Hustis, and Michael Hatfield.