John Jeter
Music Director & Conductor

John Jeter is presently in his 28th season as the Music Director & Conductor of the Fort Smith Symphony.
In addition to his work in Fort Smith, Arkansas, Mr. Jeter (pronounced “Jet-ter”) is a recording artist for Naxos Records with nine albums recorded to date. He has been awarded Artist of the Year for the State of Arkansas and the Helen M. Thompson Award by the League of American Orchestras for outstanding music director.
Under Mr. Jeter’s leadership, the Fort Smith Symphony has transformed from a modest community orchestra to a regional ensemble with an international reputation. Mr. Jeter’s recordings are streamed and broadcast annually on most all streaming platforms and numerous radio stations worldwide. His recording of Florence Price’s Symphony No. 1 and 4 with the Fort Smith Symphony on Naxos was a major catalyst in the international re-discovery of Florence Price’s music to the general public. He is currently the only conductor to have recorded every known work of Florence Price that includes orchestra (symphonies, tone poems, dance suites, concertos and major choral works). His Price recordings include many world premier recordings. He and his orchestra gave the world premier performance of Price’s Symphony No. 4 in 2018.


Mr. Jeter and the Fort Smith Symphony were the first (and currently only artists) to record the complete symphony cycle of William Grant Still. The same forces released world premier recordings of the music of Louis Ballard, the first Native American concert composer. This release was the first commercial recording ever produced of orchestral music dedicated to a historic Indigenous American concert composer. Mr. Jeter’s recordings have received consistent critical acclaim from The Gramophone Magazine to the New York Times.

