California State University Bakersfield
Doug Davis received his Bachelor of Music at the University of Tennessee, graduating summa cum laude and Phi Kappa Phi, and continued his studies at Harvard University, receiving his M.A. and Ph.D. in musical composition.
While at Harvard, Davis studied composition with Earl Kim, Leon Kirchner, Lukas Foss and Arthur Berger and was selected by Leonard Bernstein to be the student representative for the Norton Lectures Discussion Group. In addition, Davis received the Harvard Graduate Prize in composition four of the five years of his residency. He is the winner of numerous fellowships, including the Woodrow Wilson Fellowship, National Endowment of the Humanities Fellowship, and the Paine Traveling Fellowship. His compositions have also been awarded the Contemporary Recording Society Composition Prize, Knoxville Symphony, David Van Vactor, and Delyz Composition for Dance Prize. His compositions "Love Letter" for voice is released on C.R.S. records and "Token" for voice and orchestra is presently under contract for recording. His composition, "Psalm for an Orange Angel" for orchestra was recently recorded and performed by the Hungarian Symphony Orchestra in Budapest under the direction of Matyas Antal.
Among the jazz artists who have recorded his works on various labels are Chick Corea, Bennie Wallace, Eddie Gomez, Larry Coryell, Dannie Richmond and Steve Marcus. In addition, Davis has performed in concert with numerous jazz recording artists including Michael Brecker, Freddie Hubbard, Bob Mintzer, Bobby Shew, Pete Christlieb, Glen Moore, Jack Six and John Dearth.
Davis was named Professor of the Year in 1987 by the Alumni Association and was awarded the honor of Outstanding Professor for California State University, Bakersfield in 1989. He was also awarded the Arts Council award for outstanding creative achievement in music in 1997.