Jason Barry-Smith

Jason Barry Smith (born 12 December 1969) is an Australian operatic baritone, vocal coach, composer, and arranger. He works with organisations such as Opera Queensland, the Queensland Symphony Orchestra, Seven Network, and the Queensland Youth Choir.

Barry Smith, born in Brisbane, Queensland, is a former student of Kedron State High School. He graduated with a Medal of Excellence from the Queensland Conservatorium of Music in 1991. He later studied at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater München with Professor Hanno Blaschke during 1989/90 and later in London with Janice Chapman in 1999 and in Rome with Margaret Baker Genovesi in 2002.

Barry Smith has received numerous accolades; in 1992 he won the Marianne Mathy Scholarship (The Mathy) in the Australian Singing Competition, in 2001 he won Opera Foundation Australia's Italian Opera Award, and for the first five months of 2002 he was resident at the Teatro dell'Opera di Roma, Italy.

As a concert soloist, Barry Smith has performed in Fauré's Requiem (Melbourne Symphony Orchestra), Haydn's Paukenmesse (Queensland Philharmonic Orchestra), Bach's St John Passion (Brisbane Chorale), Nigel Butterley's Lawrence Hargrave Flying Alone (Sydney Symphony), Bach's St Matthew Passion, Christmas Oratorio and Purcell's Ode to St Cecilia’s Day (Bach Society of Queensland), and as the baritone soloist in the Australian composer's Richard Mills 2001 work, Symphonic Poems. In 2012, Barry Smith was a soloist in the Australian premiere of Graun's 1755 oratorio Der Tod Jesu. He was the soloist in HK Gruber's Frankenstein!! at the 2016 Four Winds Festival in Bermagui, New South Wales.

Barry Smith made his directorial debut at the 2001 4MBS Festival with Purcell's Dido and Aeneas in which he also sang the role of Æneas; this production won him the Perform 4MBS Award for Opera Production. In 2008, he re mounted Opera Queensland's production of Hansel and Gretel for its tour of 83 schools through Queensland and northern New South Wales. He held the position of artistic director of the Queensland Youth Choir from 2008 until 2010, taught Musical Theatre/Voice at the University of Southern Queensland's Summer Schools from 2004 until 2014, classical voice at Queensland Conservatorium's Opera school from 2003 until 2013, and from 2009 until 2012 was the Director of Opera Queensland's Young and Developing Artist Program. From 2013 until 2014 he was the Creative Director of Opera Queensland's Open Stage program.