ABOUT TED

FuseBox co-founder Ted King-Smith is a composer, educator, performer, and arranger currently based in Kansas City, Missouri. Described as “off-beat, jazzy, and convincing,” Ted strives to synthesize aural, visual, kinesthetic, and/or conceptual influences into engaging musical works that emphasize variety and virtuosity. Recent awards for his music include 3rd place in the 2014 American Prize and the 2012 Washington-Idaho Symphony Young Artist Award. Notable performers include the University of Missouri-Kansas City Wind Symphony, the University of Tennessee Symphony Band, the Washington State University Wind Ensemble, the UMKC Saxophone Ensemble, the Saxophilia Quartet, and others. His music has been performed across the United States and Canada, at Helzberg Hall in the Kauffman Performing Arts Center, several College Music Society and Society of Composers Inc. conferences, the Root Signals Electronic Music Festival, the New Horizons Music Festival, and the Florida State University New Music Festival. He has been commissioned by Steve Davis and the UMKC Wind Symphony, Bill Perconti and the Lewis and Clark State College Saxophone Quartet, Zach Shemon and the UMKC Saxophone Ensemble, and a growing list of performers.

Hailing from the Hudson Valley of New York, it was here that Ted began his love of music with the saxophone at age 8. He graduated from the Hartt School of Music in 2010 with a BM in music education, and studied saxophone with Carrie Koffman and composition with Stephen Gryc and Larry Alan Smith. He then moved west to study composition at Washington State University, where he graduated with an MA in 2012. His composition teachers at WSU included Aleks Sternfeld-Dunn, Ryan Hare, and Scott Blasco; as well as saxophone with Greg Yasinitsky. Ted is currently attending the University of Missouri – Kansas City, where his composition teachers include Chen Yi, James Mobberley, and Paul Rudy.

As an educator, Ted has taught music in every level of musical education ranging from pre-k to university environments. He is currently adjunct faculty at Kansas City Kansas Community College where he teaches introductory courses in music technology, and holds a GTA at UMKC where he is the instructor for undergraduate electronic music courses. As a saxophonist, Ted has performed in and founded several chamber ensembles, and has also performed in wind ensembles across the country. His interest in performance also includes improvisation, and is also a key element of his compositional process. He is currently a member of Mnemosyne (nem-o-zine), a Kansas City-based quartet that performs improvisatory music in traditional and non-traditional venues in the area.

Outside of music Ted enjoys mountain hiking, road biking, swimming, photography, and an excellent craft brew.