Robert Smith

  • Senior Lecturer Popular Music
  • Faculty of Creative Industries
Robert Smith

About Me

Rob Smith is a composer, improviser and performer active on the Cardiff music scene since 1983. He has worked as a busker, professional composer, performer, improviser, teacher and workshop leader. He has performed throughout Europe and in USA. With Wonderbrass he represented Wales in an international Jazz competition in Viennes, France in 1996. He has also worked collaboratively with musicians from Capetown, South Africa, Romania, France, Belgium, Germany, Gambia, Senegal as well as UK.

He teaches Performing Arts and Music at the University of South Wales. He has written music for theatre, film, television and radio and has performed extensively throughout the UK and Europe as well as in West Africa and USA. He has research interests in community music (leading the band Wonderbrass) music for media and carnival performance. He is course leader for BA (Hons) Performing Arts. 

My research profile on PURE is here:



Pure Profile Link

Skills And Qualifications

  • Composer, improviser and Performer of Music.

    • Interests

    Responsibilities

  • Popular music, Jazz, Community Music, Music and film/Media, Music Theatre.

    • Publications And Past Projects

  • Wonderbrass 25
  • Carnival Y Môr 2019
  • Biophony (Community Music Wales) 2017
  • Symposium: Music, Pedagogy and Community (05/03/2016) (Convener)
  • Score for film ‘The Portrait’’ by Chris Forster, 2014 (20 mins) This film won Best Short BAFTA Cymru 2014.
  • Album ‘8 Million Stories’ by The Naked Citizens released 2018 on Country Mile Records (including spin-off album ‘Space Touring’ on Nang Records). Radio airplay on BBC Radio 6 and Radio Wales.
  • Chapter on Wonderbrass in book on ‘This is Our Music’: The cultural politics of Jazz Collectives, edited by Tony Whyton and Nick Gebhardt. Routledge USA, published 2015.
  • Founder and Musical Director of ‘Wonderbrass’ 1992-present. Wonderbrass is a community jazz big band.