Biography
Callum Lewis Smart was born in 1996 in Great Britain. He earned an artist diploma from the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, studying with Mauricio Fuks. He then took up a place on the International Artist Diploma postgraduate course at the Royal Northern College of Music (RNCM), taking lessons with Ana Chumachenco and Noah Bendix-Bagley.
He is a scholarship holder of the International Music Academy in Liechtenstein and takes part in the intensive weeks and activities there.
Recognised as a rising star since winning the “BBC Young Musician” strings category and being the top European prize-winner at the “Menuhin Competition” in 2010, Callum enjoys concert appearances with the UK’s leading orchestras, including re-invitations to the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic and the Philharmonia Orchestra.
read more
Previous season highlights include Callums debut with the BBC Philharmonic and his North American debut with the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, as well as performances with the Fort Wayne Philharmonic, the European Union Chamber Orchestra, the Orpheus Sinfonia and the Polish Chamber Philharmonic Orchestra.
As a recitalist, Callum performs at some of the world’s most prestigious venues including London’s Wigmore Hall, the Konzerthaus Berlin and the Auditorium du Louvre in Paris, and at a number of European festivals including the Cheltenham Festival, Dvorak Festival in Prague, Menuhin Festival, the Mecklenburg-West Pomeranian Festival and the Malmo International String Festival.
Continuing his advocacy for new music, Callum worked with composer George Benjamin to perform his Three Pieces for solo violin at both the Wigmore Hall and the Royal Northern College of Music. He also performed Kaija Saariaho’s Nocturne for solo violin at the Bridgewater Hall in Manchester.
Now with three recital discs to his name, Callum saw the release of ‘Transatlantic’ in 2020, which was a top 30 album on the UK classical charts and earned features as Classic FM and Scala Artist of the Week.
Callum plays on a c.1730-35 violin by Carlo Bergonzi.