Smith studied at Pittsburg State University (Kansas) with Margaret Thuenemann, at the Juilliard School of Music in New York City with Daniel Ferro, and with Professor Janice Harper in Europe.
[citation needed] Like many dramatic tenors, he began his career as a baritone and sang for several years in German opera houses[which?].
[1] In January 2015, during the final scene of Tristan und Isolde with Elisabete Matos at the Théâtre du Capitole de Toulouse, a 210 kg fake rock suspended over Smith as the recently dead Tristan began descending.
When Smith noticed it was not stopping he rolled away and quickly got to his feet, provoking laughter from the audience.
There was a subsequent investigation into “l’affaire du rocher”, concluding with the conviction and eight-month prison sentence of a stagehand for sabotage.