Virtuoso

He has performed as a soloist with many orchestras, including the Boston Symphony, National Symphony, Chicago Symphony, New World Symphony, and the NHK Orchestra of Japan, He is frequently a guest artist at such prestigious music festivals as Tanglewood, Wolf Trap, Chautauqua, Pacific Music Festival, and the Casals Festival in Puerto Rico. As a founding member and first trumpet of the Empire Brass Quintet, Smedvig has toured North and South America, Japan, Russia, Europe, and Great Britain.

His 1990 Telarc recording of virtuoso trumpet concertos with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra earned him a Grammy nomination. It was followed by a second recording with that ensemble, featuring Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No. 2; and a recording of ceremonial music for solo trumpet and organ with Michael Murray. On Virtuoso: Rolf Smedvig, a dazzling compilation CD of selections taken from previous Telarc recordings, Smedvig's talent is displayed in music ranging in style from Gregorian chant to the 20th century. Smedvig has been praised for his innovative and idiomatic arrangements (many of which are represented on the current recording).

Smedvig has served as Music Director for the Williamsport Symphony, and has conducted the Cambridge Chamber Orchestra, the Honolulu Symphony, the Northwest Chamber Orchestra and the Tonhalle Orchestra of Zurich. He has served on the faculty of Boston University and headed the Boston University Tanglewood Institute. He acts as consultant at the Royal Academy of Music in London, and is a clinician for the Selmer Company.