(updated April 2001)
Victor Davies is a musician who has crossed many musical boundaries, from ragtime pianist, to composer whose music has been recorded by the London Symphony Orchestra.
Born in Winnipeg Canada, he studied at the University of Manitoba,
and Indiana University graduating with a Bachelor of Music in
Composition, and has studied conducting with Pierre Boulez in
Switzerland.
Returning to Winnipeg, Davies began his career as a freelance
composer, pianist and conductor, working with Winnipeg's major
artistic organizations. His children's musicals, The Magic
Trumpet and Reginald The Robot were both
premiered at the Manitoba Theatre Centre; Winnipeg's Contemporary
Dancers commissioned The Colour Of The Times and
Anerca; the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra commissioned
Celebrations, A Short Symphony and From
Harmony. He composed and performed live and on television
with his own "3rd stream" jazz ensemble.
Commissioned to write the first major score for planetarium, The
Beginning and End of the World, was recorded by conductor
Skitch Henderson. On commission from the Fast Foundation, Davies
composed The Mennonite Piano Concerto. Recorded
with pianist Irmgard Baerg and the London Symphony Orchestra,
conducted by Boris Brott, Barry Edwards (Music Magazine) wrote
that the work exhibits "exuberant high spirits...popularity
through its easy accessibility, and its wide range of musical
styles"; Chester Duncan (Arts Manitoba) wrote: "..there
are many moving and delightful things throughout". This work
(coupled with Good Times:Suite for Orchestra, also
with the London Symphony Orchestra, both available on CD), has
become Davies' best known composition, and has been performed
live in the US, Canada, Europe and China, broadcast many times
on National and American Public Radio, the CBC, and the BBC and
was #8 in sales on Classic FM the largest classical music broadcaster
in Britain in 1995. Following the success of this CD The
Music Of Victor Davies was released in Britain, Europe,
North America and Japan on the Campion label. His other recordings
feature Festival Players Canada performing Silhouettes
(Piano Trio No. 1), Yukon Scenes (for Flute
and Piano) and Fun For Four (String Quartet No.1)
In addition to his children's musicals for stage and television,
he has written music and lyrics for over 290 episodes of the CTV
children's series Let's Go! and The Rockets.
For the CBC, The National Film Board and independent producers,
he has written dramatic and documentaries scores in a variety
of styles, for radio, film and television.
Other major theatre works and film scores include: a rock opera
Beowulf recorded and staged in New York; Seize
the Fire, based on William Blake's writing; Especially
Babe, a musical for Toronto's Young Peoples Theatre in
the Toronto Theatre Festival; The Musical Circus,
a commission by Sound Stage Canada, toured Eastern Europe including
the Zagreb Biennial; The Big Top commissioned by
the Royal Winnipeg Ballet, with over 50 performances, was a CBC
TV special shown around the world; the theme song A Little
Like Magic for the Famous People Player's Broadway
show and American tour; scores for the internationally award winning
film, The Last Winter (Fox video); The Nutcracker
Prince (Warner Bros.) recorded by the London Symphony
and seen world wide, and For The Moment
(20th Century Fox) recorded in Prague with musicians of the Czech
Philharmonic.
In addition to composing, Victor Davies has conducted his and
others music and has been the conductor of his own film and television
scores. He spent two years as a musical director of CBC-TV's Ninety
Minutes Live working with and writing for opera, jazz,
pop, rock, folk and country artists.
Davies' music, aimed at a wide audience is melodic and brilliantly
orchestrated and though he looks to popular idioms as a source
of inspiration, his style is eclectic. The use of these popular
idioms in his Pulsations (Concerto for Electric
Violin), the string quartet Fun For Four (both on
the Campion label with Erich Kunzel conducting the London Symphony
Orchestra), Let's Talk (commissioned for the Grammy award
winning Boss Brass and the CJRT Orchestra) is often contrasted
with more avant guard styles as in his ballet Anerca,
the last movement of Celebrations and his film
score for The Pit.
Other recent commissions include: Continents for
Chamber Music Victoria for the Commonwealth Games; Art
Deco Fantasy for cello and piano premiered by Ofra Harnoy;
Dream Variations for the Vancouver
Youth Symphony Orchestra; a musical for children, Pirates!
for the Charlottetown Festival, and Concerto For Car Horns
and Orchestra for the WSO 50th anniversary celebrations.
In 1999 he was musical director, composer, and producer
of the Opening and Closing Ceremonies Music for the XIII
Pan American Games, now available on CD. The premiere
of his Jazz Concerto For Organ And Orchestra
by Wayne Marshall (1998 BBC Musician of the Year) for
The Calgary International Organ Festival in May 2000 was heard
on CBC and American Public Radio.
Revelation, a full length oratorio based on the
Book of Revelation, premiered on February 1996 to great critical
acclaim. Featuring the 300 voice Mennonite Oratorio Choir, Winnipeg
Symphony Orchestra and international soloists, James Manishen
(Winnipeg Free Press) said.."a masterful oratorio... Davies
has always had a gift for the good tune.. genuinely heartfelt
.... gospel touches...aptly placed and effective...Revelation
is a celebration of life, faith and music". The second performance
climaxing the 1997 Ottawa Choral Festival was equally acclaimed,
as was the third performance May 2000 with the Hamilton Philharmonic.
Hugh Fraser (Hamilton Spectator) said " I have little doubt
Davies Revelation is a masterpiece. It is gloriously
tuneful and has all the aleatory chaos, harsh brassy dissonances
and driving percussive rhythms, used in stunningly effective emotional
context...". The premiere was filmed as a CBC TV special
Adrienne Clarkson Presents and is now shown extensively
on Bravo. His choral commission Lifting The Sky, based
on a traditional Salish legend with original poetry
by American poet Carolyn Maddux, for the North American
Welsh Choir will premiere in the USA May 2001, and in Britain
July 2002. Works in progress include commissions for Shades
Of Gray for Gary Gray, principle clarinet of the Los Angeles
Chamber Orchestra, and a Jazz Piano Concerto for
conductor /pianist Bramwell Tovey for his Winnipeg Farewell Gala,
May 2001. Davies has also recently finished the score for a musical
of A Tale of Two Cities.