Wyn Davies (born 8 May 1952 in

Gowerton Gowerton ( cy, Tregŵyr) is a large village and community, about 4 miles north west of Swansea city centre, Wales. Gowerton is often known as the gateway to the Gower Peninsula. Gowerton's original name was Ffosfelin. The village falls within the ...

, Wales) is a

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...

conductor. After graduating from Christ Church, Oxford, Davies joined the

Welsh National Opera Welsh National Opera (WNO) ( cy, Opera Cenedlaethol Cymru) is an opera company based in Cardiff, Wales; it gave its first performances in 1946. It began as a mainly amateur body and transformed into an all-professional ensemble by 1973. In its ...

as a Staff Conductor in 1974. From 1987, Davies spent two years as assistant conductor at the

Metropolitan Opera The Metropolitan Opera (commonly known as the Met) is an American opera company based in New York City, resident at the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, currently situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The company is oper ...

, New York and undertook two winter seasons for the Banff Centre for the Performing Arts in Canada which included the 1989 award-winning production of Weill's Threepenny Opera in Toronto. In 2005, Davies was appointed director of music to

New Zealand Opera New Zealand Opera is New Zealand's only full-time professional opera company, formed in 2000 from the merger of companies in Auckland and Wellington (and later Christchurch). New Zealand Opera is headquartered in Parnell, Auckland, stages severa ...

. In Britain he regularly conducts at the

Buxton Festival The Buxton Festival is an annual summer festival of opera, music and (since 2000) a literary series, held in Buxton, Derbyshire, England since its beginnings in July 1979. The 2020 festival would have run but was cancelled due to the Covid-19 cri ...

, with the Hallé Orchestra and for

Opera North Opera North is an English opera company based in Leeds. The company's home theatre is the Leeds Grand Theatre, but it also presents regular seasons in several other cities, at the Theatre Royal, Nottingham, the Lowry Centre, Salford Quays and ...

. In 2014, he was Musical Director for the world premiere production of John Metcalf's '' Under Milk Wood: An Opera'', an adaptation of Dylan Thomas' play for voices. The premiere performance took place at

Taliesin Arts Centre Taliesin Arts Centre ( cy, Canolfan y Celfyddydau Taliesin) is owned and managed by Swansea University and is located on the university's Singleton campus in Swansea, Wales, United Kingdom. The Centre opened in 1984. Stephen Hawking gave the inaug ...

, Swansea on 3 April 2014. Davies also sang the role of Organ Morgan and played

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keybo ...

and synthesizer in the piece. In 2015, he released a CD of his cabaret "Just Wyn" on the Stone Records label.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Davies, Wyn 1952 births Living people Welsh conductors (music) British male conductors (music) 21st-century British conductors (music) 21st-century British male musicians 20th-century British conductors (music) 20th-century British male musicians Musicians from Swansea Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford