Dennis Russell Davies (US)

Dennis Russell Davies (born April 16, 1944, Toledo, Ohio) is an American conductor and pianist. Davies studied piano and conducting at the Juilliard School, where he received his doctorate. He was Music Director of the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra from 1972 to 1980. In 1977 he co-founded the American Composers Orchestra with composer Francis Thorne, and he was its music director until 2002. Davies was music director of the Brooklyn Philharmonic from 1991 to 1996. In 1980, Davies moved to Stuttgart, Germany, where he was General Music Director of the Baden-Württemberg State Opera House from 1980 to 1987. There he premiered two Philip Glass operas, along with many standard operas, often in productions with innovative and unusual staging. He has worked with many directors, including Robert Altman in a collaboration on Salome in Hamburg. He has also held permanent posts with the Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra, the Orchestra of the Beethovenhalle Bonn (1987–95), and the Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra. Davies was chief conductor of the Bruckner Orchestra Linz and the Linz Opera from 2002 to 2017. In March 2008, Davies was named the third music director of the Sinfonieorchester Basel, effective with the 2009-10 season, for an initial contract of five years. He is scheduled to conclude his Basel tenure at the end of the 2016-17 season.