July 13, 2011, Greencastle, Ind. — Orcenith Smith, professor of music and director of the DePauw Symphony Orchestra, is the featured guest conductor at the eighth Indiana University-Southeast String Clinic, July 17-23, held in New Albany, Indiana. Students from grades 7-12 participate in this weeklong clinic and are auditioned from the southern Indiana and Louisville area. Area string professionals, including members of the Louisville Symphony Orchestra, teach the students throughout the week.
Smith has been invited as guest conductor for the clinic's final concert six years in a row.
"It is such an honor to be invited back to conduct the final String Clinic concert with these young musicians," saysthe professor. "They have benefited from the hard work of all their teachers during the school year, and they individually are taking the initiative during summer to make 
the next step. They want to increase what they can learn, and do that in an intensive all-day focus. I am excited to become a part of their strong learning curve at this crucial performance step."
Earlier this summer, Smith conducted another string camp, "Strings and Jazzy Things," in Indianapolis. Funded by the Lilly Endowment, the Christel DeHaan Foundation, the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, the Philharmonic Orchestra of Indianapolis and Indianapolis' St. Paul's Episcopal Church, the camp gives inner-city string students opportunities to sustain their development in a tuition-free camp.
Founded in 1884, the DePauw University School of Music is one of the nation's oldest private institutions for post-secondary music instruction and the longest-running in Indiana. Learn more here.