Robert W. Smith, an American composer, arranger, and teacher, visited ‘Iolani on Thursday, January 24 and conducted a clinic for Band 3. 
He worked on one of his compositions, “Spirit of the Winds”, which the band will be performing this year and explained to the band what he was trying to accomplish with the work. His music is very descriptive and he got the band to visualize the images he was trying to portray musically. The whole process was very successful and the band members reacted very enthusiastically to being able to work with the composer to gain an insight as to what he was trying to create.
Smith is in Hawaii as a guest of the Hawaii Music Educators Association and the Oahu Band Directors Association. He is the guest conductor of the Hawaii Select Band, made up of students who successfully auditioned. Mr. Smith currently teaches at Troy University as Coordinator of the Music Industry program.
