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Dennis Russell Davies

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

Dennis Russell Davies is an American conductor and pianist. He was born in 1944 and studied piano and conducting at the Juilliard School, where he earned his doctorate. He was music director of the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra from 1972 to 1980. In 1977, with the composer Francis Thorne, he founded the American Composers Orchestra. In 1980 he moved to Stuttgart, where until 1987 he was general music director of the Baden-Württemberg opera. There he conducted the premieres of two operas by Philip Glass, in productions with distinctive staging. Later he led the Brno Philharmonic and the MDR Symphony Orchestra in Leipzig, among others.

Music and breakthrough

Davies is best known as an interpreter of living composers. He worked with Philip Glass, Arvo Pärt, John Cage, Lou Harrison and Alan Hovhaness, and performed and recorded a great deal of their work, such as Glass's opera Akhnaten in 1987 and Pärt's Fratres. Glass dedicated his Fifth Symphony to him. For his recording of Copland's Appalachian Spring with the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra he received a Grammy in 1979. He also worked for a long time with the jazz pianist Keith Jarrett, whom he conducted in concerts of Mozart, Lou Harrison and Alan Hovhaness.

Influence

Davies built a bridge between the classical tradition and the music of his own time.

Listening

Listening tip. Listen to Arvo Pärt's Fratres in one of his recordings. Notice how simple the material is.

Discography

Studio albums

Categories: Artists