Ivan Davis

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title: "Ivan Davis" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1932-births", "2018-deaths", "accademia-nazionale-di-santa-cecilia-alumni", "american-male-classical-pianists", "prize-winners-of-the-ferruccio-busoni-international-piano-competition", "classical-musicians-from-texas", "university-of-miami-faculty", "university-of-north-texas-college-of-music-alumni", "20th-century-american-classical-pianists", "21st-century-american-classical-pianists", "people-from-electra,-texas", "20th-century-american-male-musicians", "21st-century-american-male-musicians"] description: "American musician (1932–2018)" topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivan_Davis" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary American musician (1932–2018) ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox person"]

Field	Value
name	Ivan Davis
birth_date
birth_place	Electra, Texas, USA
death_date
occupation	Pianist and professor
employer	University of Miami-Frost School of Music
awards	St. Cecilia Piano Competition
Ferruccio Busoni International Piano Competition
Fulbright Scholar
::

| honorific_prefix = | name = Ivan Davis | honorific_suffix = | native_name = | native_name_lang = | image = | image_size = | alt = | caption = | birth_name = | birth_date = | birth_place = Electra, Texas, USA | death_date = | death_place = | other_names = | education = | alma_mater = | occupation = Pianist and professor | years_active = | employer = University of Miami-Frost School of Music | organization = | known_for = | notable_works = | spouse = | partner = | children = | parents = | relatives = | callsign = | awards =St. Cecilia Piano Competition Ferruccio Busoni International Piano Competition Fulbright Scholar | signature = | signature_alt = | signature_size = | website = | footnotes = | module = Ivan Roy Davis, Jr. (February 4, 1932 – March 12, 2018) was an American classical pianist and longstanding member of the faculty at the University of Miami's Frost School of Music.

Early life

Davis was born in Electra, Texas. He received his Bachelor of Music in 1952 from University of North Texas College of Music, and an Artist's Diploma, as a Fulbright Scholar, from the Santa Cecilia Academy in Rome. He won second prize in the 1956 and 1957 Ferruccio Busoni International Piano Competition and first prize in the 1958 St. Cecilia Piano Competition. In April 1960, Davis won the Franz Liszt Competition at Town Hall, New York City. Davis studied under Silvio Scionti, Carlo Zecchi and Vladimir Horowitz.

Performance and recording career

He debuted at New York City's Town Hall in 1959. Davis made his international debut at the Festival dei Due Mondi in Spoleto. In 1960, he signed with CBS Records and began a 60 concert cross-country tour. According to Grove Music Online: "His Queen Elizabeth Hall début recital in London in 1968 caused a sensation, and has become a collector's item on record. Further recordings, largely of 19th-century showpieces, have confirmed his exceptional exuberance and technical brilliance, most notably a Gottschalk recital of true virtuoso flair." The American classical pianist Richard Kastle was his student for more than three years.

Discography

• "Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 2,Ivan Davis with Henry Lewis conducting the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra", Decca Phase 4 stereo concert series, PFS 4214 1971
• "Davis Plays Czerny, Schumann, Liszt", Audiofon, CD 72004
• "The Wind Demon and other 19th century piano music", New World, 80257-2
• "Piano Music of Grieg – Ivan Davis", Audiofon, CD 72022
• "Liszt – Piano Concertos – Ivan Davis", Royal Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Edward Downes. Coupled with solo performances of Hungarian Rhapsody No. 6 and Paraphrase on Wedding March and Dance of the Elves from Mendelssohn's incidental music to A Midsummer Night's Dream. London Weekend Classics, 421-629-2
• "Souvenir de Porto Rico – Piano Music of Gottschalk – Ivan Davis", London Weekend Classics, 436-108-2
• "Gershwin – Rhapsody in Blue – Cleveland Orchestra – Maazel", London Jubilee, 417-716-2
• "Digital George – Gershwin Classics", Musical Heritage Society, 513380w
• "Chopin – Favourite Piano Works – Ivan Davis", Castile Communications, CCD-106
• "Tchaikovsky – Piano Concerto No. 1 – Davis", Castile Communications, CCD-103
• "Liszt's Greatest Hits – Hungarian Fantasy with Ormandy, Philadelphia Orchestra, CBS-MLK-39450
• Great Galloping Gottschalk: America's First Superstar, London Records/Decca (1975) CS 6943
• "Music of George Antheil", Music Masters Classics (BMG), 67094-2

Family

• On August 6, 1960, in New Canaan, Connecticut, Davis married Betty Lou Saxton, who studied at the Juilliard School and Columbia University.

References

General references

• The Art of the Piano. Its Performers, Literature, and Recordings, third edition, by David Dubal, Pompton Plains, New Jersey: Amadeus Press, 2004
• Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians, sixth edition, revised by Nicolas Slonimsky (1894–1995), London: Collier Macmillan Publishers
• Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians, Seventh edition, revised by Nicolas Slonimsky (1894–1995), New York: Macmillan Publishing Co., Schirmer Books, 1984
• Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians, Eighth edition, revised by Nicolas Slonimsky (1894–1995), New York: Macmillan Publishing Co., 1992
• Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians, Ninth edition, edited by Laura Kuhn, New York: Schirmer Books, 2001
• Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Twentieth-Century Classical Musicians, by Nicolas Slonimsky (1894–1995), New York: Schirmer Books, 1997
• International Who's Who in Music and Musicians' Directory, Ninth edition, edited by Adrian Gaster (1919–1989). Cambridge, England: International Who's Who in Music, 1980
• International Who's Who in Music and Musicians' Directory. 12th edition, 1990–1991, Cambridge, England: International Who's Who in Music, 1990. Taylor and Francis International Publication Services, Bristol, Pennsylvania
• The New Grove Dictionary of American Music, Four volumes, edited by Hugh Wiley Hitchcock (1923–2007) and Stanley Sadie (1930–2005) London: Macmillan Press, 1986
• The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 20 volumes, edited by Stanley Sadie (1930–2005), London: Macmillan Publishers, 1980
• The Penguin Dictionary of Musical Performers. A biographical guide to significant interpreters of classical music – singers, solo instrumentalists, conductors, orchestras and string quartets – ranging from the seventeenth century to the present day, by Arthur David Jacobs (1922–1996) London: Viking, 1990
• Ivan Davis: Pianist and teacher (DMA Dissertation), by Jeffrey Scott Hodgson, University of Miami, 2001

Inline citations

References

1. "Ivan Davis, longtime UM music professor, world-renowned pianist, dies at 86".
2. "NTSU Graduate Will Play at Alma Mater", ''[[The Dallas Morning News]]'', February 15, 1971
3. "Dallasite Winner of Piano Prize", ''[[The Dallas Morning News]]'', September 7, 1956
4. Ivan Davis Wins Prize; Texan, 28, Gets Top Award in Liszt Sesquicentennial Event, ''[[The New York Times]]'', April 26, 1960
5. Plaskin, Glenn (1983) Biography of Vladimir Horowitz, p. 305: "He had won the first prize in the Busoni and Cecilia competitions and in 1960 he won the Franz Liszt Competition, and received a surprise phone call from Horowitz the day after the announcement." "...with 60 concerts planned for his first cross-country tour and a CBS record contract, Davis intrigued Horowitz."
6. Plaskin, Glen (1983) Biography of Vladimir Horowitz p. 10: "...interviews with all six of Horowitz's students: Gary Graffman, Byron Janis, Ivan Davis..."
7. Lewis, Uncle Dave. "Biography: Ivan Davis". [[All Media Guide.
8. (1996-04-21). "Ivan Davis". Music.miami.edu.
9. Morrison, Bryce. "Ivan Davis".
10. [https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-03-24-ca-1154-story.html "Spike-Haired Pianist Richard Kastle Shows How You Can't Judge an Album by His Jacket"] by Steve Appleford, ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'', March 24, 1991
11. (2010-06-08). "Performer – Ivan Davis at CD Universe". Cduniverse.com.
12. "Betty Saxton and Pianist are Wed in Connecticut", ''[[The Plain Dealer]]'', August 28, 1960

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