Corey Smith
they/them
Corey Smith | Fellow in Residence 2023 | Self portrait
Corey Smith is a classically trained composer and Michigan native. They have compiled a body of work in the past seven years of performances, books, video pieces, essays — all thinking through Midwestern identity. Their work sits between performance, architecture, and music as a form of musical composition, i.e. as the sculpting of image, sound, and emotion through time.
Fellow in Residence 2022 | Photo Credit: Drew Angle, Essay on the Emil Bach House, 2019, Premiered at the Emil Bach House, a Frank Lloyd Wright-designed home in Chicago
The Project
HCL is supporting Corey as a Fellow in the final development of a music score for electronics and chamber ensemble, after extensive field research and research into the life and work of Roger Margerum. The Chicago-born and University of Illinois-trained Black American modernist architect’s notable projects span the US and include the Ingram house at 6500 S Eberhart Avenue, in the Woodlawn neighborhood. In addition, the residency supports roundtable discussions by Corey with architects and architectural historians, collective site-visits, and artist-led tours of Magerum-designed buildings.
About the Artist
Corey Smith has performed original work at Links Hall, the Detroit Fringe Festival, and Frank Lloyd Wright’s Emil Bach House. Their collaborations include with Every House Has a Door, Rough House Puppet Theater Company, Suburban Piano Quartet. They have received a residency at Light Box Detroit, the Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve, and Iowa Lakeside Laboratory. They hold an MFA in Performance from School of the Art Institute of Chicago. They completed their undergraduate degree in Music Composition at the University of Michigan, where they studied under Kristin Kuster, Bright Sheng, Evan Chambers, and Holly Hughes.
