Staff & faculty

Based in Houston, Texas, Yvonne Smith is an accomplished performer on modern and historical violas. She appears this season (2021-2022) in the Houston Symphony, Houston Grand Opera, Ars Lyrica Houston, La Follia Austin Baroque, Lyra Baroque Orchestra (Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN), American Bach Soloists (San Francisco, CA), and her own ensemble La Speranza, one of the preeminent American ensembles dedicated (exclusively) to the performance of 18th and 19th century chamber music repertoire.

Ms. Smith maintains a small private studio through the Tallowood Academy of Fine Arts and Houston Youth Symphony, and frequently coaches middle school and high school viola sections in orchestra programs throughout the Greater Houston area. Her students have earned chairs in region orchestras and competed at the state level in Solo and Ensemble contests.Born in Ames, Iowa, Yvonne began piano lessons with her mother at the age of three and began studying the viola at her elementary school in upstate New York at the age of 9. She earned her Master of Music and Bachelor of Music degrees in Viola Performance from the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University under the tutelage of Joan DerHovsepian and James Dunham.

---