Described as ‘Incandescent... a masterly display of skill and insight... as an apologist for contemporary music-making, you would search hard to find this young clarinettist's equal’ (The Age), clarinettist Ashley William Smith has performed as a soloist, recitalist, and chamber musician throughout Australia, USA Europe and Asia. He is a laureate of several the industry’s most prestigious prizes including the Music Council of Australia Freedman Fellowship, an ABC Symphony International Young Performer Award, and a Churchill Fellowship. His performance of Lachlan Skipworth’s Clarinet Concerto with the West Australian Symphony Orchestra was awarded the 2015 APRA Performance of the Year. He is an artist for Buffet-Crampon and D'Addario.

Ashley is a Senior Lecturer at the University of Western Australia where he is the Head of Winds and Contemporary Performance. Ashley is the clarinettist of the Southern Cross Soloists and performs across the globe at chamber music festivals with ensembles including the Calder, Dover, and Australian string quartets.

A graduate of Yale University, the University of Western Australia, and a Fellow of the Australian National Academy of Music, Ashley was awarded prizes as the most outstanding performance graduate of each institution. In 2020 he completed a doctorate in music analysis examining the application of moment form to the solo works of Franco Donatoni.