Tom Smith's Music Web Page

References

From Most Rev. Dr. Chrysostomos, Executive Director, Fullbright Comission of Romania

May 8, 2007

To Whom it May Concern,

I would like to make a few comments about Professor Tom Smith, a Senior Fulbright Scholar and visiting professor, here in Romania, at the National University of Music in Bucharest, this country’s premier school of musical theory and musical performance arts. I strongly support Professor Smith’s application in any and all endeavors. I met Professor Smith in Washington, DC, in July of 2002, at the orientation conference sponsored by the U.S. Department of State for newly-appointed Fulbright Scholars in the academic year 2002-2003. He struck me at the time as one of the more gifted among the six Senior Scholars selected for visiting professorships and research positions in various of Romania’s major national universities. I would draw special attention to this observation, since the Fulbright program--and especially at the senior level--is highly competitive. The finalists who attended the orientation conference, therefore, were in many ways the select of the select. The competition for this year’s program was also especially intense, so that Professor Smith’s selection by a panel of peers in the field of musical arts and musicology speaks to the high level of his academic, intellectual, and performance skills. He was among the top candidates from a wide range of senior awardees.

Since his arrival here in Bucharest, Professor Smith has very quickly earned a rather remarkable reputation for his teaching skills both at the National University of Music and, as a guest Lecturer, in the American Studies program at the University of Bucharest. As well, the record of successful performances by his students has been nothing short of amazing: live concerts, radio presentations on Romanian National Radio, and live performances in the most important of the city’s concert and music halls, a number of them televised countrywide on the two Romanian national channels.

These programs have featured, in addition to Professor’s Smith’s students, some of the most distinguished musical artists in the Romanian jazz community and from the National Opera and several conservatory orchestras and national symphonies. The attention in the local and national press for the Fulbright program has been nothing less than phenomenal. Combined with his outstanding teaching evaluations, I can safely say that Professor Smith has earned himself, after a single term of his two-term appointment, the reputation of one of the most active, important, and successful Fulbright Scholars in Romania in the last decade. His wife and son, as well, have fit in well in the academic community here.

Let me further say that I can make some direct observations about Professor Smith’s administrative skills. I came to the Fulbright Commission in Romania this past summer, following a very difficult period for the program, in which constant changes in directorship and a long search period for a new Executive Director had led to serious problems in staff morale and their interaction with various academic institutions, which interaction is at the core of successful contacts for the placement of American scholars and the recruitment of Romanian scholars. (I, myself, teach as an Adjunct Professor at the Ion Mincu University of Architecture in Bucharest and as a guest Lecturer in the American Studies program at the University of Bucharest.) Re-establishing these contacts and rebuilding the administrative structure of the Commission (one of the largest in Eastern Europe with a budget well over a million and a half dollars a year) has been no small task.

From his very arrival here in late September, I have benefited from Professor Smith’s input, advice, and direct involvement in my administrative activities. Were I recruiting an academic administrator, he would, without hesitation, be the first candidate on my list. I have taught at Princeton University (where I received my graduate degrees in psychology) and have held professorial posts at the University of California (where I completed my undergraduate and graduate degrees in history and Byzantine studies), Ashland University, the Ashland Theological Seminary, the University of Uppsala (Sweden), and, as a Senior Fulbright Scholar and visiting professor in Romania several years ago, at the University of Bucharest, the A.I. Cuza University in Iasi, and the Ion Mincu University of Architecture and Urbanism in Bucharest. I have been a Fellow of the National Endowment for the Humanities, a Visiting Scholar at the Harvard Divinity School, and a Marsden Research Fellow at Pembroke College, Oxford University. I was also Academic Director of the Center for Traditionalist Orthodox Studies in Etna, California (where I received my Licentiate in theology), from 1986-1996, and I come from a family of academic administrators of some international repute, having worked in a number of important universities in Spain, Italy, Germany, and Greece. Thus, I have had long and wide exposure to American and European scholars and academics and to some very significant individuals in these communities. I would place Professor Smith, in terms of his intellectual insight and abilities, academic sobriety, administrative skills (both in strict academics and in a performance capacity), among the top 2% of academics with whom I have worked over nearly four decades. I make this assessment, again, not from mere observation, but with actual experience in working with him.

I am loathe to write about any individual with the kinds of superlatives that I have used here. However, I can assure you that I do so with good reason and unavoidably. A more active, intelligent, and skilled administrator, professor or musician you would be hard-pressed to find. I would think that, if he is not chosen by your search committee, the loss would ultimately not be so much his own as that of your institution. I unequivocally recommend this candidate and remain at your disposal, should you wish to contact me for further comments.

Sincerely,
Archbishop Chrysostomos
Executive Director

From Dr. James Lawrence, former supervisor of Tom Smith, Pfeiffer University

May 1, 2007

To Whom it May Concern

I am happy to write this letter of recommendation in behalf of Professor Tom Smith. For two years I was honored to serve as his supervisor in my capacity as the Pfeiffer University Chairman of the School of Fine Arts. Before coming to Pfeiffer, I coordinated the film school at the University of California at Northridge.

Tom was appointed Director of Instrumental Music at Pfeiffer University early in the 1997 Fall Semester after the sudden departure of his predecessor. At that time the Pfeiffer Music Department had been reduced to six full time majors and a scant handful of participants. The Director of Choral Activities had just begun a leave of absence for medical reasons, leaving both band and choral programs in disarray. Tom had just returned to North Carolina to spend more time with his family, especially his school-aged son.

Tom was asked to recruit for the choral program as well as the instrumental program. Within two years the department had quintupled in size, and he achieved this during a time when two principal full time music faculty passed away and another left permanently for medical reasons. Tom worked hundreds of extra hours, including two consecutive summers without pay, to recruit both instrumental and vocal students. His administrative ability to be creative and network easily with regional arts educators and his well known professional musician associates was a significant asset. His unparalleled skills as a brass teacher and ensemble director reaped remarkable dividends for Pfeiffer. He has an amazing international reputation and it is a reputation that is totally justified.

Tom is probably the best teacher/motivator/innovator/organizer I have ever encountered. His wind symphonies have successfully performed some of the most difficult literature available. The jazz ensembles he founded within a month of his arrival perform an entirely world class repertoire and have won numerous national honors. His reputation as a performing musician, researcher and all around visionary has led to much recent national recognition for both himself and for the institution. Frankly, I doubt that anyone else with Tom’s background and status would have done as much for an institution considering the extenuating circumstances.

It has always been my opinion that Tom needed a larger, more versatile artistic forum through which to express his immense talents. His recent and stunning work in Romania only confirms this assesment. It is my sincere belief that the time has probably come for him to move into a bigger forum.

If you desire further information regarding Tom and his work at Pfeiffer University, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Sincerely,

Dr. Jim Lawrence
Professor of Communications Studies
Gardner Webb University, Boiling Springs, NC