Davis, Ivan

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Davis, Ivan

Davis, Ivan , American pianist and teacher; b. Electra, Tex., Feb. 4, 1932. He studied piano with Silvio Scionti at North Tex. State Univ. in Denton and later at the Accademia di Santa Cecilia in Rome with Carlo Zecchi. He also took private lessons with Horowitz, beginning in 1961. He obtained first prizes at the Busoni Competition in Bolzano (1958), the Casella Competition at Naples (1958), and the Franz Liszt Competition in N.Y. (1960). On Oct. 21, 1959, he made his N.Y. recital debut at Town Hall, and subsequently toured throughout the U.S. After making his London debut in 1966, he played on the Continent. In addition to serving on the faculty of the Univ. of Miami in Coral Gables (from 1966), he was a visiting prof, at the Ind. Univ. School of Music in Bloomington (1971–72); he also gave master classes in various locales throughout the U.S. His repertoire ranges from Scarlatti to Gershwin, showing special affinity for the works of Schumann, Chopin, Liszt, and Tchaikovsky

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire