Davies

Ken Davies holds a B. Music from the University of Wisconsin at Madison, attended Yale School of Music, holds an M.A. in trombone from Middle Tennessee State University at Murfreesboro and an M.M. in composition from the University of Colorado at Boulder where he was an Effinger Fellowship composition student. His principal trombone teachers have included Paul Wallace, Robert Van Nuys, Robert Gutter, John Swallow, David Loucky and William Stanley. His principal composition teachers have been Alfred Reed, Thom Hutcheson, Joseph Lukasik ,Luis Gonzalez, and Richard Toensing. He has performed in a wide variety chamber and pop ensembles. During the 1970s, he was a trombonist with Nick Russo & Gabriel’s Brass, a 12-piece jazz-rock show band based in Orlando, Florida, often appearing at Walt Disney World where the group enjoyed immense popularity from 1972 to 1982. A successful studio brass teacher since 1965, he has taught hundreds of students at all levels from beginner through college. He has also worked as a commercial arranger and session producer for nationally broadcast record and television projects. Since 2002, he has resided in south Mississippi where he teaches brass, composes, and manages his publishing company, Kenvad Music. His works include acoustic and electronic pieces that have been performed nationally at Society of Composers national and regional conferences, Southeastern Composers League, the International Trombone Festival, Electronic Music Midwest, Eastern Trombone Workshop, and various concerts and recitals. Mp3s of his works may be heard via his website www.kendavies.net. His Three Pieces for bass trombone and piano won the 2009 Eastern Trombone Workshop National Composition Competition. Honors include annual ASCAP awards, grants from National Endowment for the Arts and Mississippi Arts Commission along with the 2006-2007 Mississippi Performing Artist Fellowship in Composition and a listing on the Mississippi Artist Roster.