Peter Maxwell Davies

Sir Peter Maxwell Davies (b. 8 September 1934, Salford, England) is a British composer.

Related Topics:
8 September - 1934 - Salford - England - British - Composer

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He took piano lessons and composed from an early age. After education at Leigh Grammar School, he studied at the University of Manchester and at the Royal Manchester College of Music (amalgamated into the Royal Northern College of Music in 1973), where his fellow students included Harrison Birtwistle, Alexander Goehr, Elgar Howarth and John Ogdon. Together they formed New Music Manchester, a group committed to contemporary music. After graduating in 1956, he briefly studied with Goffredo Petrassi in Rome before working as Director of Music at Cirencester Grammar School from 1959 to 1962.

Related Topics:
Piano - University of Manchester - Royal Manchester College of Music - Royal Northern College of Music - Harrison Birtwistle - Alexander Goehr - Elgar Howarth - John Ogdon - Goffredo Petrassi - Cirencester - 1959 - 1962

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After a further period of study on a Harkness Fellowship at Princeton University with Roger Sessions, Milton Babbitt and Earl Kim, Davies moved to Australia, where he was Composer in Residence at the Elder Conservatorium of Music, University of Adelaide from 1965-66. He then returned to the United Kingdom, and moved to the Orkney Islands, initially to Hoy in 1971 and later to Sanday. Orkney (particularly its capital, Kirkwall) hosts the St. Magnus Festival, an arts festival founded by Davies in 1977. He frequently uses it to premier new works (often played by the local school orchestra).

Related Topics:
Harkness Fellowship - Princeton University - Roger Sessions - Milton Babbitt - Earl Kim - Australia - Elder Conservatorium of Music - University of Adelaide - Orkney Islands - Hoy - 1971 - Sanday - Kirkwall - 1977

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Davies was Artistic Director of the Dartington Summer School from 1979 to 1984 and has held a number of posts and been awarded a number of honorary doctorates at various institutions since then. From 1992 to 2002 he was associate conductor/composer with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and he has conducted a number of other prominent orchestras, including the Philharmonia, the Cleveland Orchestra, the Boston Symphony Orchestra and the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra. Davies was made a CBE in 1981 and knighted in 1987. He was appointed Master of the Queen's Music for a ten-year period from March 2004.

Related Topics:
1992 - 2002 - Royal Philharmonic Orchestra - Conducted - Philharmonia - Cleveland Orchestra - Boston Symphony Orchestra - Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra - CBE - 1981 - Knight - 1987 - Master of the Queen's Music - March - 2004

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Davies is gay and has a keen interest in environmentalism.

Related Topics:
Gay - Environmentalism

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Note on name: "Maxwell" is a middle name, not part of a surname. To his friends, Davies is known as "Max".

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