Frank Hugh Smith, Jr. was born in San Diego, California on July 24, 1923. He served in the Air Force from 1942 to 1946. Smith was a versatile musician; his primary instrument was flute, but he also played the piano, conducted, and composed. After his discharge from the military, he went to France, where he studied at the Fontainebleau School and the Paris Conservatoire; his teachers included Nadia Boulanger and Marcel Moyse. In 1950, he married Wencke Frimmin-Dahl; they went on to have two children. In 1953, Smith received a bachelor's degree from the Yale School of Music. After further study in Europe, he returned to New Haven, earning a master's from Yale in 1956. At the time of his death on September 5, 1958, he was working on a doctorate at Boston University, and was about to become assistant director of the Yale Band.
From the guide to the Selected Compositions of Frank H. Smith, 1951-1963, (Irving S. Gilmore Music Library, Yale University)
