Ex-Buffalo Grove resident, Grammy Award-winning pianist returns

Out of the blue one day, Cory Smythe got a call from famous classical violinist Hilary Hahn, asking him to be a last-minute pianist fill-in at her concert in New York City.

Hahn heard about the 37-year-old former Buffalo Grove resident through mutual friends. Smythe jumped at the chance, spending the next few days cramming to learn a difficult sonata.

"I weighed the possibility of the experience of playing with her against the experience of having a very public failure. When there's so much to do that it seems impossible, I sort of thrive on that. But I'm sure I'm killing myself and aging prematurely," he said. "I really wasn't counting on there being any follow-up."

The concert went so well, though, that Hahn invited Smythe to partner with her on her next album, "In 27 Pieces: The Hilary Hahn Encores." Last month, the album won Hahn and Smythe a Grammy Award for Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance.

They're now touring in Europe and will return home for a concert at Orchestra Hall in Chicago on Sunday, April 12.

Smythe insists his role on the album was a supporting one, because Hahn spent years working on it before he came along. It features 27 short encore pieces that Hahn commissioned from a wide range of classical composers.

Smythe - known by friends for his self-effacing ways - jokes that a tiny part of him didn't even want to win the Grammy, because he so dreaded making a speech. Playing the piano in front of a crowd is one thing. Public speaking is another.

"(When I heard my name announced), for a split second, I thought, 'Oh God, no!' But that was quickly overwhelmed by the feeling of 'this is really amazing. I can't believe this is happening,'" he said.

Smythe may speak humbly of his talents, but classical music critics don't. A recent Washington Post review raved about the "ferocity and finesse of his technique." The Seattle Times called him "the best keyboard partner a violinist (or an audience) could wish for: technically brilliant, artful without excess, supportive without overwhelming, and apparently possessed of that most valued of accompanist attributes - a sixth sense about exactly when and how the soloist is going to land on any given note."

They're well-deserved accolades, says Smythe's former music teacher at Buffalo Grove High School, Ed Jacobi. Even as a teen in the school's jazz and concert bands, Smythe's talents stood out.

"I've been a high school teacher for 36 years, and he is one of the most extraordinary and talented students I ever had," said Jacobi, whose other former students are no slouches either - one was in the New York Philharmonic and another is in Glen Miller's Orchestra.

"(Smythe's) senior year, he performed 'Rhapsody in Blue.' He did the entire piece and had it memorized. It was incredible," Jacobi added. "The thing that strikes me most about Cory, he's a down-to-earth, humble person. He appreciated every opportunity. I'm very proud of him and very happy for him. He's such a fine young man."

Smythe grew up in Buffalo Grove and started playing around on the family's living room piano as a toddler.

"The story my mom tells, and there might be some truth to it, is that my dad would play mostly pop songs, like Beatles songs, on the piano. My mom has a memory of hearing one of those Beatles songs coming from the next room, assuming my dad was there playing it, and then came into the room and found me playing it, at (age) 2 or whatever," he said.

He started taking lessons with Mary Ann Alexander in Arlington Heights, who taught him piano until he left to study music at Indiana University. He earned his master's degree in music from the University of Southern California.

Smythe learned to play a broad range of new, classical, jazz and improvised music, mostly on piano.

"I wasn't on a structured path for classical music. I wasn't training for it but always identified as a musician and a pianist," he said.

Smythe went on to collaborate and perform with dozens of composers and ensembles around the world, including Milwaukee's Present Music, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra's MusicNOW and the new music group International Contemporary Ensemble.

He also released a critically acclaimed solo album, Pluripotent, which can be downloaded for free (or a name-your-price option) at corysmythe.bandcamp.com.

Smythe, who now lives in Queens, New York, said it's too soon to tell the impact the Grammy Award will have on his career. But for now, he's touring the world with Hahn.

"In the near term, it has felt kind of validating," he said. "That's nice, in a career that's as uncertain as this one."

- Jamie Sotonoff

• Dann Gire and Jamie Sotonoff are always looking for people from the suburbs who are now working in showbiz. If you know of someone who would make an interesting feature, email them at dgire@dailyherald.com and jsotonoff@dailyherald.com.

Cory Smythe and Hilary Hahn in concert

What: Cory Smythe and Hilary Hahn in concert

When: 3 p.m. Sunday, April 12

Where: Orchestra Hall at Symphony Center, 220 S. Michigan Ave., Chicago, (312) 294-3000,

cso.orgTickets: $36-$73