About Charlie
Always looking for ways to bring music to the community, Charlie stays busy as a freelancer in Phoenix and across the valley. Recent
stints- as soloist, or with his trio– include in-home concerts, Salon at the Garden, and music for the Board and friends of Arizona
Humanities. His favorite engagements are at the Nash, Arizona’s premier jazz venue. As a special guest artist, he’s shared the
bandstand with Joel Frahm, Cyrille Aimée, Darcy James Argue, Ben Wendell and Jeremy Pelt. In these moments of collegiality and
heightened musicianship, he’s mindful of applying all that he was taught by his professors and mentors, Michael Kocour and Lewis Nash.
Charles Smith is a dedicated pianist and jazz musician. Completing studies at Arizona State University in 2017, he soon after experienced a demand for the musical, managerial and inter-personal skills he had cultivated there. Answering the call to pass on his knowledge, Charlie teaches his own private students. And with requests from music teachers, he substitute teaches in high school and middle school classrooms. (He’s learned that classroom management for teens is not a skill that one walks away with from a jazz-performance degree!) Already stepping beyond his university training, he’s become the pianist and choir director at First Church. “Friendly Fridays” is a weekly activities program at First Place, a transitional housing facility for people with disabilities; the program was conceived after the CEO met Charlie and perceived his musical and personal approachability- essential gifts for working with people with autism and catastrophic head injuries.
In 2018 Charlie went back to ASU for his Master’s degree in piano performance, and upon graduation was offered a position as a faculty associate where he teaches class piano.
Charles Smith is a dedicated pianist and jazz musician. Completing studies at Arizona State University in 2017, he soon after experienced a demand for the musical, managerial and inter-personal skills he had cultivated there. Answering the call to pass on his knowledge, Charlie teaches his own private students. And with requests from music teachers, he substitute teaches in high school and middle school classrooms. (He’s learned that classroom management for teens is not a skill that one walks away with from a jazz-performance degree!) Already stepping beyond his university training, he’s become the pianist and choir director at First Church. “Friendly Fridays” is a weekly activities program at First Place, a transitional housing facility for people with disabilities; the program was conceived after the CEO met Charlie and perceived his musical and personal approachability- essential gifts for working with people with autism and catastrophic head injuries.
In 2018 Charlie went back to ASU for his Master’s degree in piano performance, and upon graduation was offered a position as a faculty associate where he teaches class piano.