Paul Davies

Born in Denver, Colorado, Paul Davies received a Ph.D in music from the University of California at San Diego having studied with Brian Ferneyhough, Bernard Rands, and Joji Yuasa. His music has received many performances in the United States, Mexico, and Europe; distinguished ensembles such as Nieuwe Ensemble, Amsterdam, la Camerata de la Universidad Autónoma de Baja California, Sonor Ensemble, Duo Runedako, and Ensemble Expose, London, have given world premieres of his works. In 1990 Dr. Davies was invited as guest composer and lecturer to the prestigious Darmstadt New Music Festival in Germany. This invitation was again extended in 1992 and 1994. In 1997, the composer’s “Genji’s Visit to Utsusemi” for guitar and ensemble was performed by Ensemble Expose, with the American virtuoso Alan Thomas as soloist, in a BBC production/broadcast at the Institute of Contemporary Arts in London, England. This work was also featured in the Evolution of Our Ear Festival at the Academie der Kunste in Berlin, Germany, performed by Nieuwe Ensemble Amsterdam on November 21, 1997. In 1999 the same work was selected for performance at the ISCM World Music Days in Bucharest, Romania. Davies’work was featured at the California State University Long Beach Festival of the Arts in July of 1998 and in June of the same year the composer was interviewed on Cable Access TV in a program entitled “A Conversation with Paul Davies”.

 

In July of 2000, the composer’s “Padre Nuestro” for mixed choir a cappella was awarded an honorable mention at the Jihlava 2000 Music Festival held in Prague, Czech Republic. The piece received its European premiere at this festival during the month of July. Its companion piece, “Ave Maria,” for mixed choir a cappella, was also awarded a prize in the “Honors” category of the Carlton Savage Endowment for International Relations and Peace as part of the “Waging Peace Through Singing” music festival held at the University of Oregon in July of 2002.

 

Dr. Davies, who currently teaches music appreciation, music theory, and a course on the Beatles at Foothill College in Los Altos, California, was invited to give a presentation of his works at Stanford University on October 18^th, 2001, as part of Stanford’s on going composition sequence. His “Berlin Motives” for solo harp, commissioned by Ernestine Stoop, was released in January of 2005 under the Dutch label Attacca. Recently, the composer has been commissioned to write a new work for harpsichord and prepared piano to be performed by Kate Ryder and Jane Chapman as part of the ‘Cutting Edge Series’ sponsored and broadcast by the BBC in London. The premier will take place in October of 2006. Ms. Ryder, a renowned concert pianist and promoter of new music, also premiered the composer’s Rhapsody for Piano and Orchestra with the California Youth Symphony in December of 2005.