Dennis Russell Davies

Dennis Russell Davies (born April 16, 1944, Toledo, Ohio) is an American conductor and pianist. He studied piano and conducting at the Juilliard School, where he received his doctorate. A champion of living composers and modern music including Hans Werner Henze, William Bolcom, Lou Harrison, Alan Hovhaness, John Cage, Philip Glass, Giya Kancheli, Arvo Pärt, Virgil Thomson, and Aaron Copland, Davies has commissioned, premiered and recorded numerous pieces by living composers, along with the standard classical works.

His recordings of note include Copland's Appalachian Spring with the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra in 1979, for which he won a Grammy Award; Arvo Pärt Fratres and Miserere; and many of Philip Glass's operas and symphonies, including the 5th symphony, which is dedicated to Davies. He premiered Glass's 10th symphony to a standing ovation at a 2012 New Year's concert in Anton Bruckner Concert Hall, Linz. On Glass's 80th birthday, January 31, 2017, Davies premiered Glass's 11th symphony at Carnegie Hall in New York.Lou Harrison's 3rd Symphony is also dedicated to Davies.

Davies served as Music Director of the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra from 1972 to 1980. Together with the composer Francis Thorne, he founded the American Composers Orchestra in New York in 1977, and served as its music director until 2002. Davies served as music director of the Brooklyn Philharmonic from 1991 to 1996.

...
Wikipedia