About Blake Smith

Blake Smith is a Canadian saxophonist and educator based in Toronto, Ontario. An avid chamber musician, he placed as Honourable Mention in the University of Toronto Winds Concerto Competition with his saxophone quartet, The Nameless Quartet. Additionally, he has performed and organized various concerts for the University of Toronto’s Music Oasis Series, MusicFest Canada, and as a guest in schools across the city for a series of outreach lecture recitals. Blake has held the title of section leader of the University of Toronto’s Wind Ensembles, and continues to  be invited to participate in various chamber performance opportunities through the same institution as an alumnus. Blake acts as a regular substitute musician for ensembles across the Greater Toronto Area, including the Rouge River Winds Community Concert Band and the University of Toronto Saxophone Ensemble. Beyond his role as a performing member of the Toronto Saxophone Collective, Blake currently acts as the in-house arranger for the ensemble; encouraging the continued arrangement of orchestral works for saxophone with the goal of creating a reimagined sound concept for the existing repertoire. As an accomplished arranger of music for various instrumentations, some of Blake’s notable works include George Gershwin’s An American in Paris and Gustav Holst’s The Planets for Saxophone Ensemble, and Fernande Decruck’s Sonate en Ut# for Wind Ensemble. Under the tutelage of Dr. Wallace Halladay, Blake received a Bachelor’s Degree in Saxophone Performance at the University of Toronto.