Cory Smythe

Pianist Cory Smythe blurs and even erases the boundaries between composed and improvised music and between contemporary classical music and jazz. He is also a significant educator. Smythe is a frequent guest at festivals internationally, including those in both the classical and jazz fields. A member of the International Contemporary Ensemble, he has collaborated with some of the world’s leading instrumentalists, including violinist Hilary Hahn. Smythe was born in 1977 in suburban Chicago. His father worked for a printer and was an enthusiastic amateur pianist who unwound at the end of the day by playing at home. Smythe emulated him and began acquiring jazz albums (starting with one by the Yellowjackets) at age ten. He also enjoyed pop music, especially that of Prince. Smythe studied at Indiana University, where one of his principal teachers was Luba Edlina-Dubinsky, and at the University of Southern California with Stewart Gordon. In the middle of the 2000s decade, he moved to New York to pursue a career as a freelance musician. His collaborative talents began to attract the attention of various players, and he made his debut on the album Silent Z Live by jazz alto saxophonist Pete Robbins in 2010. Another key collaborator was star classical violinist Hilary Hahn, whom he accompanied on several concert tours. The pair recorded the album In 27 Pieces: The Hilary Hahn Encores in 2013, featuring newly commissioned works the two performed as encores in concert. Meanwhile, Smythe was developing a solo career as well as working with other creative partners. He has appeared at both contemporary classical and jazz festivals, including the Newport Jazz Festival and Lincoln Center’s Mostly Mozart Festival in New York, and major organizations that have commissioned new works from him include the Trondheim Jazz Orchestra in Norway. Smythe has made many more recordings, some of them with the International Contemporary Ensemble, of which he has been a member for some years. He has also accompanied such figures as composer/performer Tyshawn Sorey, whose music mixes jazz and classical music similar to Smythe. He has made several more albums with Hilary Hahn. In 2025, Smythe appeared on the album Anna Thorvaldsdottir: Ubique; by that time, his recording catalog comprised some 50 items. Smythe is on the faculty at the University of California-San Diego. ~ James Manheim