Alex H Smith
Composition Portfolio
Alongside my performance career, I have always enjoyed writing music for myself and my ensembles to perform.
In recent years this has expanded to include commissions for music for theatre, advertising, events, and concert performance, with some highlights presented in the footage below.
For more information please contact me at: alexhsmith96@gmail.com
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Extended works
Other Compositions
Extended performances
(out)growing pains - Sefora Sam
Poetry and music (35min performance)
Bringing together poetry by the Antwerpse poet Sefora with my own bespoke compositions, (out)growing pains aims to create a symbiosis of spoken word and music. Instead of one accompanying the other, they shift roles and fluidly interact around the cyclical theme of healing from past pain.
This is currently a work in progress that will be officially premiering in early 2025. (Video footage from a work-in-progress try-out).
Meer dan kna(ap) - Elyne Notebaert
Background music for monologue theatre performance (40 min)
Meer dan kna(ap) is a performance created by actress Elyne Notebaert and director Aïcha Cissé about life with AP (achondroplasie), or life as a little person.
The performance is an intimate look into Elyne's inner self, touching on weighted topics of self-image, bullying and loneliness yet told through her light-heartedness and unique sense of humour.
The music I was commissioned to compose for the show is predominantly electronic and very eclectic regarding musical genres. Here I got to stretch my pastiche composition skills, creating tracks for a Catwalk scene, a Fitness scene, and an energetic, (overly)optimistic pop song (among others).
A very enjoyabe commision!
'Spoken Word- Viernulvier
Bespoke performance of poetry and music created by Sefora and I.
As part of a double bill evening at Viernulvier, Gent, Sefora and I were invited to bring a set of music and poetry. This was performed twice in April 2024 to a sell-out auditorium.
The music I wrote was based largely around live-looping of the marimba, vibraphone and kalimba, with some additional (pre-recorded) electronic elements.
With the theme of 'Self-Love' recurring in the texts, I took the opportunity to write according to my personal musical tastes, fully exploring my love of ostinato based music, and even my slight obsession with arranging Bach for marimba (See video below).
Official event teaser trailer, using excerpts of my music (see full piece below)
EK Slam Poetry - DeSingel
Concert performance & incidental music (3 hour underscored event)
For the European Championships of Slam Poetry, held at DeSingel (Anwterpen) in January 2024, I composed and directed the incidental music, as well as a 'half-time' show in collaboration with Sefora Sam.
This was a 3-hour event, experienced both live in the concert hall and streamed online internationally.
To reference the theme of the season at DeSingel 'Downtown New York' I wrote for a New York Jazz inspired ensemble, performed by:
Thibaut Deryckere: Piano
Robbe Broeckx : Drum kit
Toon Rumen : Bass
Myself : Vibraphone
The 'half-time' show consisted of a bespoke 30-minute concert by Sefora and I, focussing on feel good words and music. We aimed to provide some enjoyable yet substantial entertainment for an audience who had (at that point) already experienced several hours of competitive poetry.
Other works
"Nightfall" was originally written to be played during an instrumental intermission set during the European Slam Championships event.
Video taken from the live stream of the event, and featuring musicians:
Thibaut Deryckere: Piano
Robbe Broeckx : Drum kit
Toon Rumen : Bass
Myself : Vibraphone
During my student years, playing Bach's music on the marimba was almost a mantra to me; reminding me why I fell in love with the marimba in the first place.
When I began writing music for the poem "You", by Sefora Sam, the self-affirming mantra style of the text seemed to link perfectly with what I had felt playing bach in my student years, so it made the perfect inspiration for an accompanying composition!
This miniature was premiered in Viernulvier, Gent, as an accompaniment to a spoken word performance (included in the show reel of 'Spoken Word' above), but during my warm-up time in the venue I also recorded a quick solo performance...
Written for DeSingel to be used on an advertisement for the European Championships of Slam Poetry (see above), this was an exploration of hip-hop jazz.
The piece combines a fully electronically produced backing track with an acoustic vibraphone solo, and samples taken from the New York subway.
This song was a collaboration between myself and singer/actor Junior Akwety, originally written as part of the Congo Echoes project by Jeroen Malaise.
Lyrics and melody by Junior, and marimba trio composition by myself.
Performed by (left to right) Jorge Rodriguez, Javier Poveda and myself.
"Detoxing" (shown here in its multi-track demo form), is a piece for vibraphone and rhythm section. Originating from a solo improvisation around a structurally pivotal chord from the show (out)growing pains, this idea quickly developed into a piece of its own.
It has ben performed during the EK Slam Poetry event (Jan 2024), in various performances by Maisha In Concert, and has since been adapted into a live-looping version for my solo performances.