Performance Class Description:

Welcome to Performance Class with Stephanie Lynne Smith! In this class, you will learn:

• Ways to manage performance anxiety

• How to communicate with your audience

• How to set yourself up for success as a performing artist

All levels and all styles are welcome in this class that helps you navigate the art of performance. Please bring two pieces to perform including monologues, songs, instrumental pieces. Stephanie is a pianist and can accompany you. Sheet music double-sided, hole-punched in a binder is appreciated.

From Mz Wyatt: "The aim of the class is to get in touch with what’s holding one back from “bringing it” fully in performance and even giving yourself permission to be seen and heard (if that’s an issue). She makes people bigger from the inside out. The most meek among us would benefit the most and still, somebody who is already confident and big on stage would get a huge boost out of it, because it’s core work. Heart work, in a really safe, nice environment with somebody who knows how to do that and she’s an amazing piano player who supports you while you're singing and it’s such a safe space. I really can’t say enough about how powerful this is. I did one class and then signed up for the next three."

STEPHANIE LYNNE SMITH, BIO

Somewhere along the way to becoming a concert pianist, Stephanie fell in love with singers and discovered her passion for promoting composers and new compositions. Stephanie promotes a life of balance that includes the arts, self-care, and stress reduction. 

Born and raised in Wichita Falls, Texas, Stephanie holds a Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance (1998) from University of Colorado at Boulder and a Master of Music in Chamber Music Performance (2001) from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. In the Bay Area, she served as Artistic Director for Queer Chorus of San Francisco from 2000-2008, commissioning “Halloween in the Castro: A Horror Opera” by Jack Curtis Dubowsky and the musical “Group Therapy” by June Bonacich, along with countless pieces for choir and solo voice. For decades, she was immersed in music direction for churches and worship conferences. In 2014, Stephanie concluded her formal career in worship leadership by serving as worship designer and leader for the Sunday 6pm services at Grace Cathedral. From 2012-2022, Stephanie toured as concert pianist with Broadway veteran Franc D’Ambrosio (The Godfather III/Phantom of the Opera) and had the privilege of witnessing and playing for the ceremony knighting him “Cavaliere” by the Italian government.

As a performing artist, she was Artist in Residence for Shari Carlson Studio (San Francisco) and Bergstrasse Evangelical Lutheran Church (Ephrata, Pennsylvania) and currently appears in concert with Merideth Kaye Clark and Susannah Mars. In August 2023, Stephanie was elevated to Artistic Director for the Newport Performing Arts Festival in Newport, Oregon, presenting workshops in performance, music theory and reading, performance anxiety management, and ensemble work. Her production company Miss Smith Presents produces a new series that showcases living and local composers. She can be found regularly accompanying her students in livestreams on the Miss Smith Presents YouTube channel.

In October 2021, she accepted a staff teaching position in Portland at Resound NW: A Place to Sing and maintains her performance studios in Salem, Portland and San Francisco. After several decades of touring, conducting and interim work, she returned to her first love of chamber music by joining the Northwest Piano Trio in Fall of 2023.