Smith’s 2025-2026 season includes house debuts at Seattle Opera, where he performs the Pirate King, a role debut in Gilbert and Sullivan’s The Pirates of Penzance; at Minnesota Opera as Tonio in Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci; and at the Oakland Symphony in his first performance of Verdi’s Requiem. He appears at the Houston Grand Opera to make his role debut as Peter in Humperdinck’s Hänsel und Gretel, and performs the title role in Mendelssohn's Elijah with the Windsor Symphony Orchestra. He also returns to The Phoenix Symphony and the Dallas Symphony Orchestra for his now-celebrated holiday performances. 

 

Last season, Smith made several notable debuts, including his role and house debut at Washington National Opera in the title role in Porgy and Bess, his Sacramento Philharmonic debut as Alfio in Cavalleria Rusticana, and his Baltimore Symphony Orchestra debut as Amonasro in a staged version of Aida. In addition, he sang the role of Scarpia in Tosca with the New Orleans Opera and the New Mexico Philharmonic, and performed as a soloist in concerts with the New Jersey Symphony led by Xian Zhang, The Phoenix Symphony and Chorus, the Memphis Symphony, and St. Croix Valley Opera. In addition, he appeared in recital with Houston Grand Opera’s Giving Voice and at the Fine Arts Center in Greenville, South Carolina.

 

In the 2023-24 season, Smith made his Santa Fe Opera debut in Tosca and returned to the Houston Grand Opera to take on the title role in Falstaff. He sang the role of Amonasro in Lyric Opera of Chicago's production of Aida immediately after jumping in for the company’s production of Terence Blanchard’s Champion – inspiring New City Stage to write, "Baritone Reginald Smith Jr., who was so magnificent as the older Emile in Champion, made a chilling Amonasro in what is often a throwaway role." In concert, he returned as the featured baritone soloist for the Dallas Symphony Orchestra's Christmas Pops performances.

 

During his operatic career, Smith has performed with leading companies worldwide. He made his Metropolitan Opera debut in 2019 as Jim in Porgy and Bess, winning a 2021 GRAMMY® Award (Best Opera Recording) for the album made from that production. Other highlights include his 2022 debuts with Lyric Opera of Chicago as Uncle Paul in Terence Blanchard’s Fire Shut Up in My Bones; San Diego Opera as Don Alfonso in Così fan tutte; and Fort Worth Opera as Amonasro in Aida. In 2021, he debuted with Holy City Arts & Lyric Opera as Germont in La Traviata and gave a critically acclaimed performance as Castor in the world premiere of Gregory Spears’ Castor and Patience at Cincinnati Opera. Additional credits included his 2018 Portland Opera debut as Monterone in Rigoletto and his 2017 Dallas Opera debut as Bonzo in Madame Butterfly. 

 

In addition, Smith has also appeared with the Opera Theatre of St. Louis, Opera Hong Kong, Atlanta Opera, New Orleans Opera, Wolf Trap Opera, Toledo Opera, Opera Idaho, and Opera Carolina. His credits include roles in productions of I Pagliacci (Tonio), Il Barbiere di Siviglia (Don Bartolo), Porgy and Bess (Jake), Madama Butterfly (Sharpless), L'Italiana in Algeri (Taddeo), Fellow Travelers (Senator Charles Potter/General Airlie/Bartender), La Bohème (Marcello), Die Fledermaus (Falke), La Traviata (Giorgio Germont), The Pirates of Penzance (The Pirate King), Gounod's Roméo et Juliette (Capulet) and Le Nozze di Figaro (Count Almaviva). 

 

In concert, he has performed with the National Chorale at Lincoln Center as well as the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Dallas Symphony Orchestra, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, New Jersey Symphony, Houston Symphony, Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra, Cincinnati Pops, Lexington Philharmonic, Columbus Symphony Orchestra (GA), North Carolina Symphony, Johnson City Symphony, Boise Philharmonic, West Virginia Symphony, The Syracuse Orchestra and the Tchaikovsky Symphony Orchestra at Tchaikovsky Hall in Moscow. Additionally, he participated in a United in Song performance with the American Pops Orchestra, televised nationally on PBS, and debuted with the May Festival and the Oregon Symphony in Beethoven's Symphony No. 9. Other highlights include Brahms' Ein deutsches Requiem, Beethoven's Missa Solemnis, Mozart's Requiem and Coronation Mass, Britten's Rejoice in the Lamb, the Fauré and Duruflé Requiems, Schubert's Mass in G, Schoenberg's Ode to Napoleon Bonaparte, Handel's Messiah, and Berlioz's Roméo et Juliette. Alongside the Dallas Symphony Orchestra and Dallas-based WFAA-TV, he shared in a Lone Star Regional Emmy Award as the featured soloist in the DSO's 2018 Christmas Pops concert.

 

Smith is the 2021 U.S. representative at the BBC Cardiff Singer of the World Competition, a Grand Finals winner of the 2015 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, and a Houston Grand Opera Studio graduate. Besides receiving recognition from the Dallas Opera Guild Competition, the Mildred Miller International Vocal Competition, and the Licia Albanese-Puccini Foundation Vocal Competition, Smith has earned first place in the National Opera Association Competition: Scholarship Division, Orpheus Vocal Competition: Young Artist Division, George London Vocal Competition: Top Prize (George London Award) and Gerda Lissner International Vocal Competition: Top Prize. He also received a 2015 Sara Tucker Study Grant and a 2016 Career Grant from the William Matheus Sullivan Foundation.

 

Born in Atlanta, Smith grew up a dedicated choral student from elementary school onward. His formative experiences as a music student inspired him to double major in Vocal Performance and Choral Music Education at the University of Kentucky, where he earned degrees in both. While he ultimately chose a performance career, he has channeled his love of teaching into numerous masterclasses, where he is known as a highly knowledgeable and engaging presenter. He returned to his alma mater during the 2017-2018 season for a performance of Mendelssohn's Elijah with the Lexington Singers and the University of Kentucky Chorale. He later returned to the University of Kentucky for a Master's in Vocal Performance, completing the degree in the Spring of 2021.