Editing Anthony Davis (composer)

{{short description|American pianist and composer|bot=PearBOT 5}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2020}}
'''Anthony Davis''' (born February 20, 1951)<ref name="LarkinGE">{{cite book|title=[[Encyclopedia of Popular Music|The Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music]]|editor=[[Colin Larkin (writer)|Colin Larkin]]|publisher=[[Guinness Publishing]]|date=1992|edition=First|isbn=0-85112-939-0|pages=636/7}}</ref> is an American pianist and [[composer]]. He incorporates several styles including [[jazz]], [[rhythm 'n' blues]], gospel, non-Western, African, European classical, Indonesian [[gamelan]], and [[experimental music]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/anthony-davis-mn0000084019/biography|title=Anthony Davis &#124; Biography & History|website=[[AllMusic]]|access-date=August 22, 2021}}</ref> He has played with several groups and is also a professor of music at the [[University of California, San Diego]].

Davis is perhaps best known for his [[operas]]; he has been called "the dean of African-American opera composers."<ref name = "cooper"/> His better known compositions include ''[[X, The Life and Times of Malcolm X]]'',<ref name="LarkinGE"/> which was premiered by the [[New York City Opera]] in 1986; ''Amistad'', which premiered with the [[Lyric Opera of Chicago]] in 1997; and ''[[Wakonda's Dream]]'', which premiered at [[Opera Omaha]] in 2007. His opera ''[[The Central Park Five (opera)|The Central Park Five]]'' premiered on June 15, 2019, at the [[Long Beach Opera]] Company in California. It won him a [[Pulitzer Prize for Music]] on May 4, 2020.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.pulitzer.org/winners/anthony-davis|title=The Central Park Five, by Anthony Davis|website=Pulitzer.org|access-date=August 22, 2021}}</ref><ref name = yahoo>{{Cite web|url=https://news.yahoo.com/central-park-five-composer-anthony-203037721.html|title='Central Park Five' composer Anthony Davis wins the Pulitzer Prize for music|website=News.yahoo.com|date=May 4, 2020 |access-date=August 22, 2021}}</ref>

==Biography==
Davis was born in [[Paterson, New Jersey]] in 1951.<ref name="LarkinGE"/> The son of Professor Charles Davis, an expert on author [[Richard Wright (author)|Richard Wright]], Davis was brought up in a series of college towns.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Ullman |first1=Michael |title=Anthony Davis: He composes |url=https://archive.org/details/sim_boston-phoenix_1982-03-23_11_12/page/n107/mode/1up |access-date=August 11, 2024 |work=The Boston Phoenix |date=March 23, 1982}}</ref> He has a 1975 degree from [[Yale University]], and has taught at Yale and [[Harvard University]].<ref name = UCSD>{{cite web|url=https://music-cms.ucsd.edu/people/faculty/regular_faculty/anthony-davis/index.html|title=Anthony Davis|website=Music-cms.ucsd.edu|access-date=2 January 2021}}</ref>

Davis is a Distinguished Professor of Music at the [[University of California, San Diego]], having joined the department in 1996.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://ucsdnews.ucsd.edu/feature/anthony-davis-wins-pulitzer-prize-for-the-central-park-five-opera|title=Anthony Davis Wins Pulitzer Prize for 'The Central Park Five' Opera|last=King|first=Anthony|date=May 7, 2020|work=UC San Diego News Center|access-date=2 January 2021}}</ref> He has received acclaim as a [[free-jazz]] pianist, a co-leader or [[sideman]] with various ensembles.<ref name="LarkinGE"/> Such ensembles include those that featured Smith as [[bandleader]] from 1974 to 1977. He has played with [[Anthony Braxton]] and [[Wadada Leo Smith|Leo Smith]].<ref name="LarkinGE"/> In 1981, Davis formed an [[Octet (music)|octet]] called Episteme.<ref name="LarkinGE"/> He also wrote the [[incidental music]] for the 1993 [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]] version of [[Tony Kushner]]'s ''[[Angels in America]]''.<ref name = UCSD/>

Many of his operas have explored people and events from African-American history. In a 1986 interview with writer [[Samuel R. Delany]] and historian [[Henry Louis Gates Jr.|Henry Louis Gates, Jr.]], Anthony Davis provides a detailed account of his influences and motivations for writing ''[[X, The Life and Times of Malcolm X]].''<ref>{{Cite book |last=Delany |first=Samuel R. |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/48139558 |title=Silent interviews : on language, race, sex, science fiction, and some comics : a collection of written interviews |date=1994 |publisher=Wesleyan University Press |isbn=0-585-37120-2 |location=Hanover, NH |oclc=48139558}}</ref> In 1997 his opera ''Amistad'', with a libretto by his cousin [[Thulani Davis]], premiered at the [[Chicago Lyric Opera]]. Its ambition was recognized but the production received mixed reviews. It was accepted for production in 2008 at [[Spoleto Festival USA]]. It underwent a major revision and the production was highly praised. ''Opera Today'' said that the revised ''Amistad'' was "much leaner, more focused and dramatically far more effective than the original. And in so doing they [the Davises] created not only a masterpiece of American opera, but further a work that — against a contemporary horizon darkened by undercurrents of racism — resonates today far beyond Memminger and Spoleto USA."<ref name="revised">[https://www.operatoday.com/content/2008/05/revised_amistad.php "Revised ''Amistad'' makes its mark"], ''Opera Today'', May 2008, Accessed June 25, 2019</ref>

Davis has also explored Native American history in his work. His opera ''[[Wakonda's Dream]]'' (2007), with a libretto by [[Yusef Komunyakaa]], is a tale of a contemporary [[Native Americans in the United States|Native American]] [[Ponca]] family in Nebraska and the history that affects them.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Smith |first=Steve |date=2007-03-09 |title=Of Coyotes, Men and Tribal Memory |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/09/arts/music/09drea.html |access-date=2022-07-03 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

His opera, ''Lilith'', ([[libretto]] by [[Allan Havis]]) had its world premiere at the Conrad Prebys Music Center at [[UCSD]] on December 4, 2009. The story is about the demon figure of Jewish mythology who was sometimes said to be biblical [[Adam]]'s first wife. It is set in a modern era.

He began working on the music for the opera ''[[The Central Park Five (opera)|The Central Park Five]]'' in 2014. An early version, titled ''Five'', was performed in [[Newark, New Jersey]] in 2016 by the [[Trilogy: An Opera Company|Trilogy Company]].<ref name="cooper">{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/30/arts/music/central-park-five-opera.html|title=This Summer, Opera Grapples With Race|last=Cooper|first=Michael|work=New York Times|date=May 30, 2019|access-date=June 8, 2019}}</ref> The librettist for both the early and final versions was playwright [[Richard Wesley]]. ''The Central Park Five'' premiered on June 15, 2019, in a production by the Long Beach Opera Company in [[San Pedro, California]].<ref name="midgette">{{cite web |last1=Midgette |first1=Anne |title='The Central Park Five' in song: Composer Anthony Davis on his new opera |url=https://www.mercurynews.com/2019/06/23/the-central-park-five-in-song-composer-anthony-davis-on-his-new-opera-2/ |website=The Mercury News |access-date=July 3, 2019 |date=June 23, 2019}}</ref> In 2020 the work won him the [[Pulitzer Prize for Music]].<ref name = yahoo/> He is the third UCSD professor in the university's 60-year history to win a Pulitzer.<ref name = UT>{{cite news|url=https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/entertainment/music/story/2020-12-06/pulitzer-prize-grammy-nominations-and-library-of-congress-induction-cap-banner-year-for-san-diego-musicians|title=Pulitzer Prize, Library of Congress induction and Grammy nomination cap banner year for San Diego musicians|last=Varga|first=George|date=December 6, 2020|work=San Diego Union Tribune|access-date=2 January 2021}}</ref> He commented, "it's also very exciting for me that you can create political work that has an impact and speaks to issues in our society. I've done my career creating political works, and I never thought I would ever get a Pulitzer."<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/entertainment/music/story/2020-05-04/anthony-davis-wins-pulitzer-prize-for-the-central-park-five-the-uc-san-diego-professors-fiery-opera|title=UCSD professor Anthony Davis wins Pulitzer Prize for fiery opera 'The Central Park Five'|last=Varga|first=George|date=May 5, 2020|work=San Diego Union Tribune|access-date=May 5, 2020}}</ref> He learned that he had won the prize while in a [[Zoom (software)|Zoom]] meeting with music faculty colleagues, so they all heard the phone call; one of them later commented "Best Zoombomb ever!"<ref name = UT/>

In 2022, the [[Detroit Opera House|Detroit Opera]] staged a production of ''[[X, The Life and Times of Malcolm X]]'', directed by [[Robert O'Hara]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Woolfe |first=Zachary |date=2022-05-15 |title=Review: After 36 Years, a Malcolm X Opera Sings to the Future |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/15/arts/music/malcolm-x-opera-detroit.html |access-date=2022-07-03 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> This was followed by the [[Metropolitan Opera]]'s production of the same opera in Fall 2023, which received significant critical acclaim in sources such as [[The New York Times]],<ref>{{cite news|last1=Barone|first1=Joshua|date=2023-11-05|location=[[New York City]]|title=Review: Anthony Davis's Malcolm X Opera Finally Arrives at the Met|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/05/arts/music/review-x-life-and-times-of-macolm-x-met-opera.html|work=[[The New York Times]]|language=en-us|access-date=2025-02-22}}</ref> San Francisco Classical Voice<ref>{{cite web|last1=Kerekes|first1=Emery|date=2023-12-12|title=Two Extraordinary American Operas Receive Their Metropolitan Premieres|url=https://www.sfcv.org/articles/feature/two-extraordinary-american-operas-receive-their-metropolitan-premieres#|website=San Francisco Classical Voice|language=en-us|access-date=2025-02-22}}</ref> and [[Smithsonian (magazine)|Smithsonian Magazine]].<ref>{{cite magazine|last1=Nowakowski|first1=Teresa|date=2023-11-09|location=[[Washington, D.C.]]|title=Malcolm X Opera Opens in New York|url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/malcolm-x-opera-makes-its-met-debut-180983228|magazine=[[Smithsonian (magazine)|Smithsonian Magazine]]|language=en-us|access-date=2025-02-22}}</ref>

In 2023, he composed the opening fanfare "If a Fish Kept His Mouth Shut, He Wouldn't Get Caught!" for the Bandshell's 100th anniversary, commissioned by the Naumburg Orchestral Concerts, and performed in the Naumburg Bandshell, Central Park, in the summer series.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Notable Events and Performers |url=https://naumburgconcerts.org/notable-events-and-performers |access-date=2025-02-22 |website=Naumburg Orchestral Concerts |language=en-US}}</ref>

Since 2024 he has been composing an opera based on the children's book ''Pancho Rabbit and the Coyote'' by [[Duncan Tonatiuh]].<ref>https://operawire.com/anthony-davis-to-compose-pancho-rabbit-and-the-coyote-opera-for-bodhi-tree-concerts/</ref>

Davis's first wife was the science fiction writer Deborah Atherton (1951-2014),<ref>https://newmusicusa.org/nmbx/the-queen-of-grace-and-kindness-deborah-atherton-1951-2014/</ref> and their son, Timothy (born c. 1980), is a science fiction writer living in New York City. In 1994 Anthony Davis married his second wife, the opera singer Cynthia Aaronson-Davis,<ref name="timteeman.com">https://www.timteeman.com/2023/11/11/how-anthony-davis-put-malcolm-x-and-black-power-center-stage/</ref><ref>https://www.pulitzer.org/winners/anthony-davis</ref><ref>https://time.com/archive/6712252/music-up-from-the-underground/</ref> and the two had a son named Jonah (born c. 1997), who was a professional baseball player.<ref>https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/2020/05/04/ucsd-professor-anthony-davis-wins-pulitzer-prize-for-fiery-opera-the-central-park-five/</ref><ref name="timteeman.com"/>

== Works==
=== Orchestral ===
*''Wayang V'' (Piano Concerto, 1984)
*''Maps'' (Violin Concerto, 1988)

(These two works were released on Gramavision 18-8807-1, a 12" [[LP album|long playing record]], with Davis as soloist in the piano concerto and dedicatee Shem Guibbory as soloist in the violin concerto. In each, the [[Bill McGlaughlin|William McGlaughlin]] led the [[Kansas City Symphony|Kansas City Symphony Orchestra]].)

*''You Have the Right to Remain Silent'' (Clarinet Concerto, 2007)<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://music-cms.ucsd.edu/people/faculty/regular_faculty/anthony-davis/index.html|title=Anthony Davis|website=Music-cms.ucsd.edu|access-date=August 22, 2021}}</ref>
*''Amistad Symphony'' (2009)

=== Stage ===
* ''[[X, The Life and Times of Malcolm X]]'' (1986), libretto by [[Thulani Davis]]
* ''Under the Double Moon'' (1989), libretto by Deborah Atherton
* '' Tania'' (1992), with libretto by [[Michael John LaChiusa]], about [[Patricia Hearst]] and events following her kidnapping by the [[Symbionese Liberation Army]]
* ''Amistad'' (1997/revised 2008),<ref name="revised"/> with libretto by [[Thulani Davis]], about a case of an 1839 slave mutiny on a Spanish ship that reached the US Supreme Court, which ruled in favor of the [[Mende people|Mende]], freeing them<ref name="Misses">{{cite news |last1=Page |first1=Tim |title='AMISTAD' MISSES THE BOAT |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1997/12/01/amistad-misses-the-boat/68e26cd1-fbdb-488d-bbc2-20b71d06915a/?noredirect=on |newspaper=Washington Post |access-date=July 3, 2019 |date=December 1, 1997}}</ref>
* ''[[Wakonda's Dream]]'' (2007), with libretto by [[Yusef Komunyakaa]], about a contemporary [[Ponca]] family in Nebraska, and the spiritual journey of their son
* ''Lilith'' (2009), with libretto by [[Allan Havis]], explores a figure from Jewish mythology, sometimes said to be Adam's first wife, set in modern times
* ''Lear on the 2nd Floor'' (2012), with libretto by Allan Havis, shifts the story of [[King Lear]] to feature a woman neuroscience researcher who has [[Alzheimer's disease]], and her relationships with her three daughters and her late husband Mortimer, the Fool.
* ''[[The Central Park Five (opera)|The Central Park Five]]'' (2019), with libretto by [[Richard Wesley]]. It premiered on June 15, 2019, by the Long Beach Opera Company in California.<ref name="midgette"/>

==Discography==
===As leader/co-leader===
{{div col}}
*1978: ''Past Lives'' (VPA)
*1978: ''Of Blues and Dreams'' ([[Sackville Records|Sackville]])
*1978: ''[[Song for the Old World]]'' ([[India Navigation]])
*1979: ''[[Hidden Voices (album)|Hidden Voices]]'' (India Navigation) - with [[James Newton]]
*1980: ''[[Lady of the Mirrors]]'' (India Navigation)
*1980: ''[[Under the Double Moon]]'' ([[MPS Records|MPS]]) - with [[Jay Hoggard]]
*1981: ''Epistēmē'' ([[Gramavision]])
*1982: ''I've Known Rivers'' (Gramavision)
*1982: ''Variations in Dream-Time'' (India Navigation)
*1983: ''Hemispheres'' (Gramavision)
*1984: ''Middle Passage'' (Gramavision)
*1985: ''Return from Space (Wonder Nonfiction)'' (Gramavision)
*1986: ''Undine'' (Gramavision)
*1988: ''Ghost Factory'' (Gramavision)
*1990: ''Trio, Vol. 2'' (Gramavision)
*1989: ''Trio, Vol. 1'' ([[Rhino Records|Rhino]])
*1993: ''Lost Moon Sisters/In Dora Ohrenstein's Urban Diva''
*1992: ''X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X'' (Gramavision)
*2001: ''Tania'' ([[Koch Records|Koch]])
*2008: ''Amistad'' ([[New World Records|New World]])
{{div col end}}

===As sideman===
'''With [[Barry Altschul]]'''
* ''[[Another Time/Another Place]]'' (Muse, 1978)
* ''[[For Stu]]'' ([[Soul Note Records|Soul Note]], 1979 [1981])
'''With [[Ray Anderson (musician)|Ray Anderson]]'''
*''[[Blues Bred in the Bone]]'' (Enja, 1988)
'''With [[Anthony Braxton]]'''
* ''[[Six Compositions: Quartet]]'' ([[Antilles Records|Antilles]], 1982)
'''With [[Marion Brown]]'''
* ''[[Vista (Marion Brown album)|Vista]]'' ([[Impulse! Records|Impulse!]], 1975)
'''With [[Baikida Carroll]]'''
* ''[[Shadows and Reflections (album)|Shadows and Reflections]]'' (Soul Note, 1982)
'''With [[Chico Freeman]]'''
* ''[[Kings of Mali]]''
'''With [[Jay Hoggard]]'''
* ''Mystic Winds, Tropical Breezes'' (India Navigation, 1982)

'''With [[Leroy Jenkins (jazz musician)|Leroy Jenkins]]'''
* ''[[The Legend of Ai Glatson]]'' ([[Black Saint Records|Black Saint]], 1978)
* ''[[Space Minds, New Worlds, Survival of America]]'' (Tomato, 1979)

'''With [[George E. Lewis]]'''
* ''[[Homage to Charles Parker]]'' (Black Saint, 1979)
'''With [[Bobby Previte]]'''
*''[[Hue and Cry (album)|Hue and Cry]]'' (Enja, 1992)

'''With [[David Murray (saxophonist)|David Murray]]'''
* ''[[Ming (album)|Ming]]'' (Black Saint, 1980)
* ''[[Home (David Murray album)|Home]]'' (Black Saint, 1982)
* ''[[David Murray Quintet]]'' ([[DIW Records|DIW]], 1994)

'''With [[Wadada Leo Smith]]'''
* ''[[Reflectativity]]'' (Kabell, 1975) also released on ''[[Kabell Years: 1971-1979]]'' ([[Tzadik Records|Tzadik]], 2004)
* ''[[Song of Humanity]]'' (Kabell, 1977) also released on ''Kabell Years: 1971–1979'' (Tzadik, 2004)
* ''[[Reflectativity (2000 album)|Reflectativity]]'' (Tzadik, 2000)
* ''[[Golden Quartet]]'' (Tzadik, 2000)
* ''[[The Year of the Elephant]]'' ([[Pi Recordings|Pi]], 2002)
* ''[[Ten Freedom Summers]]'' ([[Cuneiform Records|Cuneiform]], 2012)
* ''[[America's National Parks (album)|America's National Parks]]'' ([[Cuneiform Records|Cuneiform]], 2016)

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[https://www.anthonydavismusic.com/ Official Website] 
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20040412005656/http://www.schirmer.com/composers/davis_bio.html Schirmer.com: Anthony Davis]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20040216213155/http://www.uctv.tv/mams/bios-davis.shtml Musicians & Middle Schools: Anthony Davis]
*[https://www.nytimes.com/1981/11/15/arts/anthony-davis-beyond-jazz.html New York Times Feature from 1981, about Anthony Davis as pianist]
*[https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/12/arts/music/anthony-davis-x-detroit-opera.html New York Times profile from 2022]
*{{AllMusic|class=artist|id=p6371|label=Anthony Davis}}
*[https://www.bruceduffie.com/anthonydavis.html Interview with Anthony Davis], July 17, 1992
*[https://studsterkel.wfmt.com/programs/anthony-davis-discusses-his-opera-x-life-and-times-malcolm-x-opera-three-acts Interview of Anthony Davis by Studs Terkel, 1992]
{{PulitzerPrize Music 2011–2020}}

{{Authority control}}

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[[Category:1951 births]]
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[[Category:20th-century American classical composers]]
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[[Category:African-American classical pianists]]
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[[Category:African-American jazz pianists]]
[[Category:African-American opera composers]]
[[Category:American opera composers]]
[[Category:Bessie Award winners]]
[[Category:India Navigation artists]]
[[Category:Jazz-influenced classical composers]]
[[Category:American male opera composers]]
[[Category:Pausa Records artists]]
[[Category:Musicians from Paterson, New Jersey]]
[[Category:University of California, San Diego faculty]]
[[Category:Academics from New Jersey]]
[[Category:20th-century American pianists]]
[[Category:Classical musicians from New Jersey]]
[[Category:21st-century American classical pianists]]
[[Category:20th-century American male musicians]]
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[[Category:Pulitzer Prize for Music winners]]
[[Category:MPS Records artists]]
[[Category:Sackville Records artists]]
[[Category:MNRK Music Group artists]]
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[[Category:20th-century African-American musicians]]
[[Category:21st-century African-American musicians]]
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