Smith, Candace

Candace Smith

Candace Smith, mezzo-soprano, was born in Los Angeles but has lived in Europe since 1975 (in Italy since 1978). She earned a Bachelor’s Degree in music in California (CSUN) before specializing in medieval music at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis under Andrea von Ramm. In Italy she studied, assisted and performed with the late singer Cathy Berberian. In 1994 she earned a diploma in vocal pedagogy from the Rabine-Institut für funktionale Stimmpädagogik. She has collaborated with numerous early music ensembles including Sequentia, P.A.N., and her own Concerto delle Dame (1978-89), and in 1991 she founded the (mostly) female ensemble Cappella Artemisia, dedicated to early music from Italian convents. Together with the cornettist Bruce Dickey, she created Artemisia Editions, which publishes critical performing editions of Italian 17th-century convent repertoire. Candace is an active teacher and has worked with singers, actors, teachers and psychiatric patients. She is on the faculty of the Bernstein School of Musical Theater in Bologna.