Maestro’s Smolij’s pedagogical accomplishments as orchestra builder and conducting teacher are widely acknowledged on three continents. His collaborations with college and university orchestras are consistently marked by substantially raising the level of group and individual performance, understanding of musical styles and discipline, as well as the “technology” of ensemble playing. Members of university orchestras taught by him occupy positions with major orchestras including the New York Philharmonic, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the Los Angeles Philharmonic, among many others.
Many of his conducting students enjoy notable professional conducting careers and have been associated with such distinguished institutions as the English National Opera, the BBC Symphony, the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, the Gulbenkian Orchestra, the Houston Symphony, the Louisiana Philharmonic, the Berkeley Symphony, the Chicago Chamber Orchestra and the Beijing Symphony Orchestra, among many others.