He received a Master of Music degree in piano at Northwestern University where he studied with Alan Stout and Guy Mombaerts.
He pursued further studies at the University of Illinois with Kenneth Gaburo, the Tanglewood Music Center with Bruno Maderna, and in master classes at the Blossom Music Festival with Pierre Boulez.
Curtis-Smith was an adjunct professor then full-time faculty at Western Michigan University from 1965-2012.
Pianist David Burge wrote about the technique, saying "Loose bows made of strands of fishline are woven throughout the piano strings at various places in the instrument ... to give the pianist the possibility of crescendo and diminuendo on a single note or group of notes.
In 2001, Curtis-Smith's Twelve Etudes for piano was one of four compositions commissioned by the Van Cliburn Foundation for the Eleventh Van Cliburn International Piano Competition.