Ivan Davis
American pianist Ivan Roy Davis Jr was born in Electra, Texas on 4 February 1932 and began his piano studies with his aunt. He went on to study with Silvio Scionti at North Texas State University and with Carlo Zecchi at L'Accademia di Santa Cecilia in Rome. Later he studied with Vladimir Horowitz.
He won prizes in a series of international competitions: the Casella in Naples, the Busoni in Bolzano, the Vianna da Motta in Lisbon and the Franz Liszt Competition in New York.
Known for being exuberant, musical and technically brilliant, he recorded for CBS Records and later for London Records. He played internationally with orchestras including the Spanish National Orchestra, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Cleveland Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic and the Philadelphia Orchestra.
He also taught music and was artist-in-residence at the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida, was a visiting professor at Indiana University and gave masterclasses throughout the USA.
Ivan Davis died on 12 March 2018, aged eighty-six.