Taylor Scott Davis (born 1980) is an American church musician, conductor and composer of mostly sacred music. Based at St. Andrew United Methodist Church in

Plano, Texas Plano ( ) is a city in Collin County, Texas, Collin County and Denton County, Texas, United States. It had a population of 285,494 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is a principal city of the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. Hist ...

, he has also become an arranger and composer for the

Voces8 Voces8, styled VOCES8, is an a cappella octet from England. They have appeared internationally and made recordings of classical music, jazz, pop, and their own arrangements. Recent recordings are for Decca Classics and under their own label, Voc ...

vocal ensemble.

Life and career

Davis studied at the

Centenary College of Louisiana Centenary College of Louisiana is a private liberal arts college in Shreveport, Louisiana. The college is affiliated with the United Methodist Church. Founded in 1825, it is the oldest chartered liberal arts college west of the Mississippi Rive ...

, conducting with Julia Brasher Thorn. He graduated in 2003 as Bachelor of Sacred Music. He became a Fellow of Melodious Accord in 2004. He has been church musician at St. Andrew United Methodist Church in

. In 2018, he composed ''Return to Me'', a new choral work for the

Holy Week Holy Week ( la, Hebdomada Sancta or , ; grc, Ἁγία καὶ Μεγάλη Ἑβδομάς, translit=Hagia kai Megale Hebdomas, lit=Holy and Great Week) is the most sacred week in the liturgical year in Christianity. In Eastern Churches, w ...

of c. 40 minutes. It follows the

Stations of the Cross The Stations of the Cross or the Way of the Cross, also known as the Way of Sorrows or the Via Crucis, refers to a series of images depicting Jesus Christ on the day of Crucifixion of Jesus, his crucifixion and accompanying prayers. The station ...

, with text by Terry W. York. The choir is supported by cello and piano. Music composed by Davis has been performed throughout the U.S., Europe, South Africa and South America, by groups such as

Conspirare Conspirare is a choral ensemble based in Austin, Texas. They were formed in 1991 by conductor and musical director Craig Hella Johnson as New Texas Festival but did not begin to regularly perform until 1999. They have released over 25 albums and ...

and

. He has written arrangements for Voces8, for example "Joy to the World" and other

Christmas carols Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year, ...

for a 2021 video with orchestra. His arrangement was credited to feature "brassy exuberance worthy of Bernstein", new "harmonic territory", "sweeping harps", "roving bass lines" and "asymmetrical sways".

''Stardust''

Davis composed a

motet In Western classical music, a motet is mainly a vocal musical composition, of highly diverse form and style, from high medieval music to the present. The motet was one of the pre-eminent polyphonic forms of Renaissance music. According to Margar ...

, ''Stardust'', for eight voices

a cappella ''A cappella'' (, also , ; ) music is a performance by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Ren ...

on a commission from Voces8. In 2022, the group named its tour program after the work. A reviewer of a concert at

Wilhering Abbey Wilhering Abbey (german: Stift Wilhering) is a Cistercian monastery in Wilhering in Upper Austria, about 8 km (5 mi) from Linz. The buildings, re-constructed in the 18th century, are known for their spectacular Rococo decoration. His ...

near Salzburg wrote that the composition left "a lasting impression" (), and summarized the content: "It is about the transience of life, the disintegration into the 'meteorite dust' that gives it its title, but which true love transforms again." () A reviewer of the concert at St. Martinus, Hattersheim, as part of the

Rheingau Musik Festival The (RMF) is an international summer music festival in Germany, founded in 1987. It is mostly for classical music, but includes other genres. Concerts take place at culturally important locations, such as Eberbach Abbey and Schloss Johannisberg, ...

, noted that the music created an architecture of layers of meditative foils of sound.

References

External links

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Taylor Scott Davis
(management) Percius
The Compositional Process of Taylor Scott Davis
podcasts.apple.com * {{DEFAULTSORT:Davis, Taylor Scott American classical organists Sacred music composers 1980 births Living people American male conductors (music)