At the age of five, Nainital-based Smit Tewari started learning dhrupad and tabla from his mother Chhaya Tiwari. He has been learning the sarod for the last 12 years, first from his father Chandra Shekhar Tiwari and, since the age of nine, from Suprahat Pal of the Maihar gharana.

He has won the first prize in the Pradeshik Sangeet Pratiyogita organized by Sangeet Natak Academy, Lucknow and, among other accolades, was awarded the National Scholarship for Young Artist 2010 by the Ministry of Culture, Government of India. He was awarded the Citi- NCPA Scholarship for Young Musicians for the year 2016-17.