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ALUMNI UPDATES

Ben Smith ’06, Fully Composed

By Jennifer Preissel ’05

Ben Smith ’06 hopes his love of musical theater will inspire the children that he'll be teaching.

In April, Ben Smith ’06 knew exactly what he would be doing after graduation: going to the American School in London to train as a first grade teacher, with opportunities to work in music and art. But in his last few College years, the choice didn’t always seem so clear.

Smith faced a common dilemma during his first year. After he found an introductory chemistry class to be less than engaging, his interest in pre-med was quelled, but he didn’t know what would replace it. One day, Smith, a musical theater fanatic, found himself on the sixth floor of Dodge Hall, looking for the music department. When he knocked on an open door, musicology professor Walter Frisch invited him into his office.

“I had no idea that this kind and welcoming man was a renowned musicologist,” Smith says. “We talked about my experience with music, and he encouraged me to take the placement test for the beginning of the theory sequence.” Within two years, Frisch was serving as adviser for Smith’s independent study: composing the score for the 111th Varsity Show.

Theater was not new to Smith, who was cast in a Northwest Children’s Theater production of Peter Pan in sixth grade while growing up in Portland, Ore. The young thespian spent the next seven years working with the theater troupe, winning a Portland Dramatist’s Guild Award for his portrayal of the title character in Pecos Bill . “Musicals are just so fun,” Smith says. “Even in bittersweet stories, there’s a boundless joy and willingness to be earnest and open with emotions in musicals that has drawn me to write them.”

After dabbling in the sciences during his first semester, Smith found his calling in the music department. As a first-year, he placed out of introductory music theory and was influenced by music theory professor David Cohen to major in music. As a sophomore, Smith was cast in the 110th Varsity Show as Professor Kenneth Jackson, a lead role that showcased his singing, dancing and bike riding. The next year, Smith auditioned for and won the coveted position of composer, working with the show’s creative team several nights a week to select cast and crew and produce creative material for the performance. Frisch attests that Smith “worked with collaborators to integrate numbers into the plot — on all levels, it worked really well.”

After composing the Varsity Show, Smith took time to pursue other interests. He performed with the Orchesis dance troupe and composed a score for one of the group’s recitals. While a senior, he took classes at Broadcast Music Incorporated’s prestigious Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop. He even returned to the sciences, enjoying Professor Deborah Mowshowitz’s contemporary biology class.

The extracurricular activity Smith relished most, however, was his role as co-director of the undergraduate organization Artists Reaching Out. Founded in 2003, the organization seeks to bring arts education and awareness to New York City public schools, particularly those lacking art and music curriculum. Smith co-coordinated the volunteer program in which 27 College and Barnard students instruct inner-city students in after-school arts programs. Last semester, he and several peers worked with third-, fourth- and fifth-grade students at P.S. 125 to produce a puppet opera.

“Ben is a great teacher because he communicates really well with children,” says Artists Reaching Out co-director Taylor Marcus ’05. “He engages them and relates to them while maintaining a sense of authority.”

Smith will expand his skills in London, though he eventually sees himself returning to the American school system. “I can’t see myself as anything but a teacher,” he says. “I am fascinated by kids and love being around them.” Like the characters in musical theater, “Kids always have that willingness to be joyful.”

Jennifer Preissel ’05 is the history project coordinator for the San Francisco Film Society, presenter of the San Francisco International Film Festival.

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