David Davies (musician)

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David Davies (born 1954, Dunfermline, Scotland) is a British flautist, conductor and composer.

His professional career began as a flautist and he held principal positions in the Royal Scottish National Orchestra and the Scottish Opera Orchestra. He appeared as a guest with many of Britain’s leading orchestras as well as broadcasting and touring extensively as a recitalist and concerto soloist.

As a composer, his works have received numerous performances throughout the UK, Europe and the USA and have been broadcast by the BBC. His compositions include many chamber pieces, orchestral works, several concertos and a chamber opera based on Robert Louis Stevenson’s story, Markheim.

In 1985, strongly encouraged by his mentor, Sir Alexander Gibson, he turned his attention to conducting and he rapidly achieved considerable success. He has conducted in many festivals including the Edinburgh International Festival and the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival in Britain. Outside the UK he has appeared in Armenia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czechoslovakia, France, Germany, Holland, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, Poland, Russia, Spain, Switzerland and the USA.

His chosen repertoire is remarkably extensive, but it is as an interpreter of 20th century and contemporary music that David Davies’s work has received greatest international acclaim. He is Founder of the Paragon Ensemble Scotland, an ensemble he established in 1980 devoted to the performance of contemporary music.

Recognition of his pioneering work has brought numerous awards. He is a Fellow of Trinity College of Music, London and an Honorary Professor of the European Academy of Natural Sciences (Hanover, Germany).

Professor Davies has been passionate throughout his career about developing the interest of young people in music and, as Head of Woodwind and Head of Orchestral Studies at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music in Glasgow from 1991 to 2006, he directed undergraduate and postgraduate training for orchestral players and conductors. He is also passionately committed to music education in the broader community and has been the initiator and driving force behind many innovative projects both in the UK and abroad.