American conductor, LAUREN SMITH, is a versatile artist deeply committed to facilitating experiences of unity through music. She is passionate about presenting works authentically and personably.

Lauren is a proud recipient of a Kovner Fellowship at The Juilliard School where she studies Orchestral Conducting with David Robertson.

Lauren most recently made her debut with Les Violons du Roy. She was a 2025 Conducting Fellow at Domaine Forget, receiving mentorship from Yannick Nezet-Seguin and Kensho Watanabe. There, she was also selected to conduct Orchestre Métropolitain in a public masterclass and Les Violons du Roy in concert. Lauren also recently served as Music Director for the American Gothic Performing Arts Festival’s To Be Heard: Shadows in America program featuring works by Copland, Price, and Joel Thompson.

As an oboist, Lauren has performed in various ensembles including the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, Baton Rouge Symphony Orchestra, and more. Lauren was selected as a 2023 Fellow for the Yale School of Music’s Norfolk Chamber Music Festival, performing in weekly concerts alongside fellows, faculty, and guest artists. She was also chosen as an oboist for the Chautauqua Music School Festival Orchestra 2022 summer season. Lauren was First Prize winner of the 2022 Baton Rouge Music Club Competition and presented a recital as winner of the competition’s Instrumental Division. Her primary instrumental mentors include Richard Killmer, Titus Underwood, and Johanna Cox Pennington.

Lauren serves as founder and director of the Louisiana Art Music Collective. The Collective reaches hundreds of members of the south Louisiana community, offering free concert experiences featuring works by numerous composers.

Lauren is the former Adjunct Instructor of Oboe at Houghton University. She additionally taught students at the Eastman Community Music School and at University of Rochester. After careful faculty review, Lauren was awarded the Eastman School of Music’s prestigious Graduate Teaching Assistant Prize for the 2023-24 school year. Her administrative experience includes interning with the Gateways Music Festival, assisting behind the scenes for numerous performances in Rochester and New York, NY. She was also an Organizer for Context Conference: Contextualizing Equity & Inclusion in Music, the first U.S. academic conference with such a focus.

Lauren holds degrees from Eastman School of Music (MM) and Louisiana State University Ogden Honors College & School of Music (BM, summa cum laude). At Eastman, she pursued additional studies in conducting with Brad Lubman.

Beyond music, Lauren is family-oriented, a passionate writer, and an amateur connoisseur of Louisiana cuisine.