Scott Eric Smith feels a particular love for the human voice and has tried to focus on vocal music and opera since his first song, hypnogogia, was performed in 1991 by soprano Roxane LaCombe.

Scott studied composition with Henry Campbell (1982-1987) at Montana State University and with Dr. Carolyn R. Bremer (1991-1993) at the University of Oklahoma.

His compositional activities have lessened in recent years, but Scott continues to compose periodically.

Scott was born in Oneonta, New York on July 1, 1962. Since his father was in the army, he lived in a number of places before his family settled in Bozeman, Montana when Scott was 12. He began chemical engineering studies at Montana State University in 1980, but after 2 years made the foolhardy decision to become a music major. After graduating, Scott taught music (and math) at a very small school in northern Montana (Turner) for 4 years. Although he was composing in his free time and there were ample opportunities to write choral and band arrangements, Scott felt it was time to really focus exclusively on composing. While pursuing a masters degree at the University of Oklahoma, he taught beginning composition as a graduate teaching assistant for 2 years.

Personal matters (including the death of his father and coming out as gay) led Scott to drop out of graduate school before finishing his masters degree. He lived in Newcastle upon Tyne for the next 3 years, attempting to get residency on the basis of his relationship to a British citizen. The case remained on appeal for most of the time Scott lived in England. Because he could not legally work during this time, Scott was able to devote himself to his first full-scale opera, Edward the second.

In 1997, he moved to Houston, Texas, where he now resides.