GRAMMY® and Emmy Award-winning baritone Reginald Smith, Jr., is lauded as a “passionate performer” (The New York Times) with a voice that is “electric, hall-filling” (The Baltimore Sun) and “one of the most exciting baritone sounds to come along in years” (Opera News).
Smith’s 2025-2026 season includes his Carnegie Hall debut in Carlisle Floyd’s The Pilgrimage as well as house and role debuts at Seattle Opera as the Pirate King in Gilbert and Sullivan’s The Pirates of Penzance; at Minnesota Opera as Tonio in Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci; and with the Oakland Symphony in his first Verdi’s Requiem. He appears at the Houston Grand Opera for his role debut as Peter in Hänsel und Gretel and performs the title role in Mendelssohn’s Elijah with the Windsor Symphony Orchestra. In concert, he returns to The Phoenix Symphony and the Dallas Symphony Orchestra for special holiday performances.
Last season, Smith made his role and house debut at Washington National Opera as Porgyin Porgy and Bess, his Sacramento Philharmonic debut as Alfio in Cavalleria Rusticana, and his Baltimore Symphony Orchestra debut as Amonasro in Aida. He also sang Scarpia in Tosca with the New Orleans Opera and the New Mexico Philharmonic; appeared as a soloist with the New Jersey Symphony, The Phoenix Symphony and Chorus, the Memphis Symphony, and St. Croix Valley Opera; and performed recitals with the Houston Grand Opera’s Giving Voice and at the Fine Arts Center in Greenville, South Carolina.
Throughout his operatic career, Smith has performed with leading companies worldwide. He made his Metropolitan Opera debut in 2019 as Jim in Porgy and Bess, winning a 2021 GRAMMY® Award for Best Opera Recording. In recent seasons, he debuted with Lyric Opera of Chicago, Fort Worth Opera, and San Diego Opera in 2022, drawing acclaim for his back-to-back roles in Aida and Terence Blanchard’s Champion at Lyric Opera of Chicago. He has also appeared with the Santa Fe Opera, Portland Opera, Dallas Opera, Opera Theatre of St. Louis, Opera Hong Kong, Atlanta Opera, New Orleans Opera, Wolf Trap Opera, Toledo Opera, Opera Idaho, Charleston’s Holy City Arts and Lyric Opera, and Opera Carolina.
In concert, he has performed with the San Francisco Symphony, Memphis Symphony, New Jersey Symphony, National Chorale at Lincoln Center, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Dallas Symphony Orchestra, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Houston Symphony, Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra, Cincinnati Pops, Lexington Philharmonic, Columbus Symphony Orchestra (GA), North Carolina Symphony, Johnson City Symphony, Boise Philharmonic, West Virginia Symphony, Syracuse Orchestra, and the Tchaikovsky Symphony Orchestra at Tchaikovsky Hall in Moscow. Alongside the Dallas Symphony Orchestra and Dallas-based WFAA-TV, he earned a Lone Star Regional Emmy Award as the featured soloist in the DSO’s 2018 Christmas Pops concert and participated in a United in Song performance with the American Pops Orchestra, televised nationally on PBS.
Smith is a Grand Finals winner of the 2015 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and a graduate of the Houston Grand Opera Studio. In addition to receiving recognition from the Dallas Opera Guild Competition, the Mildred Miller International Vocal Competition, and the Licia Albanese-Puccini Foundation Vocal Competition, Smith has earned first place in the National Opera Association Competition: Scholarship Division, Orpheus Vocal Competition: Young Artist Division, George London Vocal Competition: Top Prize (George London Award) and Gerda Lissner International Vocal Competition: Top Prize. He was also the recipient of a 2015 Sara Tucker Study Grant and a 2016 Career Grant from the William Matheus Sullivan Foundation.
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Born in Atlanta, Smith grew up a dedicated choral student from elementary school onward, double majoring in Vocal Performance and Choral Music Education at the University of Kentucky. While he ultimately chose a performance career, he has channeled his love of teaching into numerous masterclasses. He returned to his alma mater for a performance of Mendelssohn’s Elijah during the 2017-2018 season and completed a Masters in Vocal Performance there in 2021. Learn more at www.reginaldsmithjr.com.