A world of music, one orchestra
From the musical streets of Jerusalem to the JMI Community Orchestra in London, cellist and composer Shirley Smart brings together traditions, cultures and sounds. We caught up with her to talk about her musical journey, the freedom of improvisation and the joy of making music together.
Meet Shirley Smart: Exploring Jewish Music with the JMI Community Orchestra
Rehearsals are well underway for the newly established JMI Community Orchestra, which meets monthly at JW3. Led by cellist, composer and educator Shirley Smart, the orchestra brings together adult musicians to explore Jewish musical traditions, discover new repertoire and connect through the shared experience of making music.
From Algerian and Iraqi music to Sephardic ballads and contemporary compositions, the orchestra’s first season has been a journey through diverse musical worlds, with improvisation and rhythmic exploration at its heart.
We caught up with Shirley to talk about her musical journey, her time in Jerusalem, and the music shaping the orchestra’s first season.
Q.Tell us about your musical background.
S. My background for this project goes back to the time I spent living in Jerusalem, where I learnt about North African musics: shaabi, piyutim and rai. I started out with a Moroccan musician called Nino Biton. He lived in Jerusalem as a child, and he used to climb onto the roof of his house to pick up Radio Algeria. This was how he learnt Algerian music!
He became a really important teacher for me and many others in the underground Jerusalem scene at the time, including the great bassist Omar Avital and the incredible pianist Omri Mor.
I was also involved with a Turkish-Ottomanic band, as well as Ayin, an Israeli band who played Iraqi music. That was my background, but over many years, my relationship with Jewish music has continued to develop in the UK.
Q.What are you working on at the moment?
S. I’ve just recorded an album with my trio, featuring pianist John Crawford and drummer Demi Garcia Sabat, which draws on those same influences as well as jazz. I also have a sextet that performs live — we recently played at Scarborough Jazz Festival.
And I have a trio that plays both classical repertoire, including Shostakovich and Mendelssohn, and some of my own compositions, as well as free improvisation.
Last month, I also completed my PhD, which draws on my time in Jerusalem: how that experience has influenced me over the years and how I’ve navigated that in the UK.
Q.Tell us about the JMI Community Orchestra and your experience leading the group in its first year.
S. What’s been exciting is that this is new repertoire for most members of the orchestra. For many, it has also been their first experience with improvisation. I think that’s a challenge people have relished.
We make the group as accessible as possible by writing scores to accommodate all levels of ability. And, especially with a percussionist, people have enjoyed playing music with a groove.
We’ve been exploring the idea of maqam, as well as the rhythms from that part of the world, and discussing their history and culture. We started with Algerian repertoire and Iraqi music, then moved on to Sephardic ballads, which sounded beautiful with an orchestra.
Now we’re working on compositions by Peter Michaels and Omar Avital. It’s been a real mixture of the traditional and the contemporary.
Q.What are you working towards with the JMI Community Orchestra?
S. We’re all really excited about the concert with the Youth Big Band at JW3 on 4 July 2027!
The concert will bring the JMI Community Orchestra and JMI Youth Big Band together for a special celebration of music-making across generations, marking the culmination of the orchestra’s first season.
Learn more about Shirley here: https://www.shirleysmart.com/
To join our community Orchestra: https://jmi.org.uk/news/jmi-community-orchestra-jw3/