When everything is improvised, there really is no right or wrong.  There’s no fach, no voice type, no limitations, only opportunities to explore where the voice wants to go.  As a young singer determined to find the high notes trapped inside, lyric tenor Chad Smyser couldn’t have gotten any better advice.  After frustration and disappointment with the way his voice was maturing, Chad stepped away from the traditional path of an opera singer in order to find his own voice.  Becoming part of acclaimed director and educator Rhoda Levine’s improvisational opera ensemble Play It By Ear set Chad on the right course.

As a member of Play It By Ear since 1999, Chad has performed at the Chicago Humanities Festival, the National Opera Association’s Annual Convention, YO! Youth Opera Bi-Annual Conference in Utrecht, Netherlands, and as a guest artist with Glimmerglass Opera’s educational outreach program in upstate New York.  Most recently the group enjoyed an extended run in Cape May, New Jersey.  The opportunity to improvise and especially to share the joy of musical improvisation with educators, other singers, and students has proved to be the most rewarding and exciting part of Chad’s musical development.  It has also allowed him to truly tap into the lyric tenor voice waiting to come out.  

Outside of his improvisation work, Chad most recently performed a recital of Schumann (Dichterliebe), Tschaikovsky (Lensky’s Aria), Hüe, and Cipullo at the Tenri Cultural Institute with pianist Gary Norden.  Since 2000, Chad has studied with baritone Peter Van Derick working on the lyric tenor repertoire including the roles of Alfredo, Lensky, Roméo, and Belmonte.    

Chad graduated summa cum laude from Temple University where, as a baritone, he performed the roles of Don Giovanni (partial), Papageno (partial), and in the chorus of Béatrice et Bénédict, Orfeo ed Euridice, and Dialogues of the Carmelites.  In Philadelphia Chad studied with Dr. Lawrence Indik, coach Laurent Philippe (Academy of Vocal Arts), conductor John Douglas, and director Dugg McDonough.  At Temple Chad received the Robert Grooters Memorial Scholarship and the David Diamond Tribute Scholarship.  Chad went on to pursue graduate studies at the Manhattan School of Music where he met Rhoda Levine.  

While continuing to explore the opportunities provided by singing, Chad found success as a sommelier and wine director in New York City restaurants.  He also spends his time playing violin and attempting to master the art of grant writing for small non-profit improvisational opera ensembles.  Chad resides in Brooklyn, New York.