Dennis Russell Davies (c) Benno Hunziker

Dennis Russell Davies (born April 16, 1944 in

Toledo, Ohio Toledo ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Lucas County, Ohio, United States. A major Midwestern United States port city, Toledo is the fourth-most populous city in the state of Ohio, after Columbus, Cleveland, and Cincinnati, and according ...

) is an American conductor and pianist, He is currently the music director and chief conductor of the

Brno Philharmonic The Brno Philharmonic (Czech: ''Filharmonie Brno'') is a Czech orchestra based in Brno, the Czech Republic. Its principal concert venue in Brno is the ''Besední dům''. The orchestra also performs regularly in the Janáček Opera House in Brno ...

Biography

Davies studied piano and conducting at the

Juilliard School The Juilliard School ( ) is a private performing arts conservatory in New York City. Established in 1905, the school trains about 850 undergraduate and graduate students in dance, drama, and music. It is widely regarded as one of the most el ...

, where he received his doctorate. He was Music Director of the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra from 1972 to 1980. In 1977 he co-founded the

American Composers Orchestra The American Composers Orchestra (ACO) is an American orchestra administratively based in New York City, specialising in contemporary American music. The ACO gives concerts at various concert venues in New York City, including: * Zankel Hall at ...

with composer

Francis Thorne Francis Thorne (June 23, 1922 – March 7, 2017) was an American composer of contemporary classical music and grandson of the writer Gustav Kobbé. Life Francis Burritt Thorne, Jr. was born in Bay Shore, New York. His father was a ragtime pianist ...

, and he was its music director until 2002. Davies was music director of the

Brooklyn Philharmonic There have been several organisations referred to as the Brooklyn Philharmonic. The most recent one was the now-defunct Brooklyn Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra, an American orchestra based in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, in existence fr ...

from 1991 to 1996. In 1980, Davies moved to

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the ...

, Germany, where he was General Music Director of the Baden-Württemberg State Opera House from 1980 to 1987. There he premiered two

Philip Glass Philip Glass (born January 31, 1937) is an American composer and pianist. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential composers of the late 20th century. Glass's work has been associated with minimal music, minimalism, being built up fr ...

operas, along with many standard operas, often in productions with innovative and unusual staging. He has worked with many directors, including

Robert Altman Robert Bernard Altman ( ; February 20, 1925 – November 20, 2006) was an American film director, screenwriter, and producer. He was a five-time nominee of the Academy Award for Best Director and is considered an enduring figure from the New H ...

in a collaboration on ''

Salome Salome (; he, שְלוֹמִית, Shlomit, related to , "peace"; el, Σαλώμη), also known as Salome III, was a Jewish princess, the daughter of Herod II, son of Herod the Great, and princess Herodias, granddaughter of Herod the Great, an ...

'' in Hamburg. He has also held permanent posts with the Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra, the Orchestra of the Beethovenhalle Bonn (1987–95), and the Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra. Davies was chief conductor of the

Bruckner Orchestra Linz The Bruckner Orchester Linz is an Austrian orchestra based in Linz. Named for Anton Bruckner, the orchestra is the concert orchestra for the state of Upper Austria, and also the opera orchestra at the Landestheater Linz (Upper Austrian State Theat ...

and the Linz Opera from 2002 to 2017. In March 2008, Davies was named the third music director of the

Sinfonieorchester Basel The Sinfonieorchester Basel (Symphony Orchestra Basel; Swiss abbreviation SOB) is a symphony orchestra based in Basel, Switzerland. Its principal concert venue is the ''Musiksaal'' of the Stadtcasino. In addition, the orchestra accompanies ballet ...

, effective with the 2009-10 season, for an initial contract of five years. He held the post through the 2016-17 season. In September 2017, the

announced the appointment of Davies as its next principal conductor, effective with the 2018-19 season, with an initial contract of four seasons. Davies has also led many festival orchestras, including the

Aspen Music Festival The Aspen Music Festival and School (AMFS) is a classical music festival held annually in Aspen, Colorado. It is noted both for its concert programming and the musical training it offers to mostly young-adult music students. Founded in 1949, the ...

, the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music, which he directed from 1974 to 1990, and the Saratoga Music Festival. He conducted '' Der fliegende Holländer'' at the

Bayreuth Festival The Bayreuth Festival (german: link=no, Bayreuther Festspiele) is a music festival held annually in Bayreuth, Germany, at which performances of operas by the 19th-century German composer Richard Wagner are presented. Wagner himself conceived ...

, the third American to conduct there, and taught orchestral conducting at the Salzburg Mozarteum. Davies's recordings of note include Copland's ''

Appalachian Spring ''Appalachian Spring'' is a musical composition by Aaron Copland that was premiered in 1944 and has achieved widespread and enduring popularity as an orchestral suite. The music, scored for a thirteen-member chamber orchestra, was created upon c ...

'' with the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra in 1979, for which he won a

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

;

Arvo Pärt Arvo Pärt (; born 11 September 1935) is an Estonian composer of contemporary classical music. Since the late 1970s, Pärt has worked in a minimalist style that employs tintinnabuli, a compositional technique he invented. Pärt's music is in pa ...

's ''

Fratres ' (meaning "brothers" in Latin) is a musical work by the Estonian composer Arvo Pärt exemplifying his tintinnabuli style of composition. It is three-part music, written in 1977, ''without fixed instrumentation'' and has been described as a “m ...

'' and ''Miserere''; and many of

's operas and symphonies, including the 5th symphony, which is dedicated to Davies. He premiered Glass' Symphony No. 10 at a 2012 New Year's concert in Linz. On Glass's 80th birthday, January 31, 2017, Davies premiered Glass' Symphony No. 11 at

Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhatta ...

in New York. Lou Harrison's 3rd Symphony is also dedicated to Davies. Davies has had a long-standing association with the jazz pianist

Keith Jarrett Keith Jarrett (born May 8, 1945) is an American jazz and classical music pianist and composer. Jarrett started his career with Art Blakey and later moved on to play with Charles Lloyd and Miles Davis. Since the early 1970s, he has also been a ...

. He has conducted Jarrett in classical concerto repertoire (including Mozart, Lou Harrison and

Alan Hovhaness Alan Hovhaness (; March 8, 1911 – June 21, 2000) was an American-Armenian composer. He was one of the most prolific 20th-century composers, with his official catalog comprising 67 numbered symphonies (surviving manuscripts indicate over 70) and ...

) and has himself performed Jarrett's music for piano and conducted Jarrett's orchestral music (featuring Jarrett as soloist as well as saxophonist Jan Garbarek).

References

External links

Official Website

Dr Raab & Dr Böhm Künstleragentur agency biography of Dennis Russell Davies

January 6, 1982 & December 8, 1987 {{DEFAULTSORT:Davies, Dennis Russell American male conductors (music) Aspen Music Festival and School faculty Grammy Award winners 1944 births Living people Musicians from Toledo, Ohio Juilliard School alumni American classical pianists American male classical pianists 20th-century American conductors (music) 20th-century classical pianists 21st-century American conductors (music) 21st-century classical pianists 20th-century American pianists Educators from Ohio Classical musicians from Ohio 20th-century American male musicians 21st-century American male musicians 21st-century American pianists