Doug Smith will be performing in a free concert this Sunday at the Northern Light Church. As with the previous concerts at the church, donations will be accepted towards the purchase of a grand piano for the new Juneau Arts and Culture Center.
Smith is a psychoanalyst who majored in chemistry and biology at Indiana University — “I had some successes with piano as a teenager, but not enough to convince me that I could or should pursue a career in piano,” he wrote in a short bio — and believes his experiences in his professional field help him perform.
“I have learned more about how to be in touch with the depths of human emotion. Words are terribly inadequate at those depths, and music is only a little better. To play before an audience requires being willing to be emotional in front of people. It requires faith in the audience. The audience also has to be open, and have a kind of faith in the performer. The chemistry and biology have to be right,” he wrote.
In Juneau, he has played classical symphonic and chamber music, musicals, sacred music, jazz, big band, and contra dance. For this performance he has chosen all études from Chopin, Szymanowski, and Scriabin. “Étude” means “exercise” or “study.” An étude, Smith wrote, “allows one to go to the depths, if he is able, but in a very controlled, disciplined, and structured way.”
The concert is 3 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 11 at Northern Light Church.
