Rafael Langoni Smith
- Music Department
- Composer
Rafael Langoni Smith was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and raised in
the neighboring mountain city of Teresópolis; he holds a Master's
Degree in Music Composition from West Virginia University, and a
Bachelor's Degree in Music Composition from the Federal University of
Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), having also taken courses specific for scoring
for TV and movies at UCLA Extension and the Brazilian Conservatory of
Music in Rio de Janeiro (CBM/Rio).
Rafael started learning the keyboard at 5 after demonstrating aptitude with musical glasses. Within a few years he acquired perfect pitch and the ability to improvise freely; eventually he began taking private piano lessons and playing with local bands. His continued interest in computers has led him to learn the ways of MIDI sequencing; on age 16 he produced his first game soundtrack to be sold internationally; after a few months, he enrolled in the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro as a Composition student.
His academic success and language skills earned him an opportunity to study in West Virginia University for a semester as an exchange student; he was later invited to come back as a Graduate Teaching Assistant on World Music, teaching Brazilian music, Indonesian Gamelan and arranging for the school's Steel Band. With a Master's diploma in Composition, Rafael returned to Brazil and presently works as a freelancer composing and arranging music for TV, film and games.
Rafael started learning the keyboard at 5 after demonstrating aptitude with musical glasses. Within a few years he acquired perfect pitch and the ability to improvise freely; eventually he began taking private piano lessons and playing with local bands. His continued interest in computers has led him to learn the ways of MIDI sequencing; on age 16 he produced his first game soundtrack to be sold internationally; after a few months, he enrolled in the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro as a Composition student.
His academic success and language skills earned him an opportunity to study in West Virginia University for a semester as an exchange student; he was later invited to come back as a Graduate Teaching Assistant on World Music, teaching Brazilian music, Indonesian Gamelan and arranging for the school's Steel Band. With a Master's diploma in Composition, Rafael returned to Brazil and presently works as a freelancer composing and arranging music for TV, film and games.
