Andrew Davis

Sir Andrew Frank Davis (2 February 1944 – 20 April 2024) was an English conductor. He was the long-time chief conductor of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, the BBC Symphony Orchestra and the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. He was music director at the Glyndebourne Festival from 1988 to 2000, and especially known for conducting the traditional Last Night of The Proms, including Last Night speeches. He was music director and principal conductor of the Lyric Opera of Chicago from 2000 to the 2020/21 season.

Music critic Alan Blyth described Davis as "a conductor whose technical skill was enhanced by an inborn enthusiasm for and dedication to the task in hand that he was able to transfer to the forces before him."

Early life and education Andrew Frank Davis was born on 2 February 1944, in Ashridge, Hertfordshire, England. His parents were Robert J. Davis and his wife Florence Joyce (née Badminton). He had piano lessons from age five He conducted the orchestra in 33 recordings; three of them received Juno Awards and two a Grammy nomination. He supported young talent, collaborating with the Toronto Symphony Youth Orchestra and supporting the founding of the Toronto Children's Chorus, performing in TSO concerts. He also played keyboard instruments and sometimes entertained as "master of ceremonies" in costume. He returned every year to conduct the orchestra, altogether 50 years from his debut in 1974. He conducted around 1000 concerts, at halls also including Massey Hall and Ontario Place. In 2018 a street near his home was named Sir Andrew Davis Lane. In April 2022, he was one of former TSO music directors including Gustavo Gimeno meeting to celebrate the orchestra's 100th season, Maestros' Homecoming. He conducted operas there such as Janácek's The Makropulos Case, Rossini's Le comte Ory and Alban Berg's Lulu. Davis concluded his Glyndebourne tenure in 2000. In 1989, Sir John Drummond appointed Davis as chief conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra (BBC SO). During his BBC SO tenure, Davis restored the tradition established by Malcolm Sargent of the chief conductor of the BBC SO conducting the Last Night of The Proms. He was noted for his humorous Last Night speeches, including giving two speeches to the Major-General's patter song from The Pirates of Penzance, in 1998 and in 2000, Davis stepped down as chief conductor of BBC SO in 2000 In 1998 he conducted at the Proms Elgar's Third Symphony that Anthony Payne had derived from the composer's sketches.

Chicago Davis became music director and principal conductor of the Lyric Opera of Chicago in 2000. His work in Chicago included his first conducting of Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen cycle in 2005 and the first Chicago production of Michael Tippett's The Midsummer Marriage. His Lyric Opera of Chicago tenure ended at the close of the 2020–2021 season.

In 2005 Davis became Music Advisor to the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, for a designated three-year period. In September 2006, he announced that he would relinquish this position with Pittsburgh after the 2007–2008 season. In October 2007, Davis and the orchestra mutually agreed to terminate his contract early and for him not to conduct his scheduled Pittsburgh Symphony concerts in the 2007–2008 season, because of increased demands on his schedule.

Melbourne

In June 2012 the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra (MSO) named Davis its chief conductor, effective in January 2013, with an initial contract of four years. In July 2015, the MSO extended Davis's contract through 2019. He conducted chorus and orchestra in August 2012 in works by Percy Grainger, including Tribute to Foster, and subsequently recorded them. He recorded with the orchestra orchestral works by the Australian composer Carl Vine, which was nominated for an ARIA Music Awards in the category Best Classical Album. Davis concluded his MSO chief conductorship in December 2019, and was named Conductor Laureate the following year.

Personal life Davis and his wife Gianna Rolandi resided in Chicago. Their son Ed Frazier Davis is a composer and conductor.

Davis died from leukaemia in Chicago, on 20 April 2024, at the age of 80.

Repertoire Davis performed a wide range of repertoire, with a particular focus on British composers, such as Harrison Birtwistle, Benjamin Britten, Edward Elgar He conducted the British premiere of Tippett's The Mask of Time. Davis programmed 20th-century music by composers including Pierre Boulez, Leoš Janáček and Olivier Messiaen, and participated in world premieres, both as player and conductor.

He conducted a solo album by mezzo-soprano Frederica von Stade, Frederica von Stade – Mahler Songs, of Mahler's Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen, songs from Des Knaben Wunderhorn and Rückert-Lieder, with the London Philharmonic Orchestra for Columbia in 1978. In 1987 he recorded Handel's Messiah in an arrangement that he had made for symphony orchestra, with Kathleen Battle, Florence Quivar, John Aler, Samuel Ramey and the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, by EMI. He made a critically acclaimed recording of Birtwistle's opera, The Mask of Orpheus. A recording of Alban Berg's Violin Concerto and Three Pieces for Orchestra with the BBC SO was released in 2022.

Davis recorded a series with the BBC SO and Chorus of music by British composers for Teldec, The British Line. It was reissued as a 16-CD retrospective by Warner Classics. He also recorded works by Hector Berlioz, Arthur Bliss, York Bowen (nominated for a 2012 Grammy in 2012 in the category Best Orchestral Performance), Frederick Delius, Elgar (2018 Diapason d'Or in the category symphonic music), Gerald Finzi, Eugene Aynsley Goossens, Percy Grainger, Handel (nominated for a 2018 Grammy for Best Choral Performance), Gustav Holst, Charles Ives, and Jules Massenet (2021 JUNO Award for Best Classical Album: Vocal or Choral).