A native of Northern California, Dagenais Smiley earned her bachelor of music degree at Oberlin Conservatory as a student of Milan Vitek and her master’s degree from University of Southern California under the instruction of Kathleen Winkler. She is proud to have worked under notable conductors such as Leon Fleisher, David Zinman, Robert Spano, Michael Tilson Thomas, and John Williams. She has participated in master classes given by Yuval Yaron, Kathleen Winkler, Alexander Barantschik, Fritz Gearhart, the Calder Quartet, and Glenn Dicterow.