Andrew Davis
(c) Dario Acosta
The British conductor Andrew Davis died yesterday at the age of 80 from leukemia.
Davis was educated at the Royal Academy of Music and King’s College, Cambridge. Davis’ first full-time appointment was as Principal Conductor of the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra in 1970. From 1975 to 1988 he was Music Director of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra (TSO). In 1988 Davis was appointed Music Director of Glyndebourne Festival Opera, a position he held until 2000. From 1989 to 2000 he was Principal Conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra.
Davis became music director and principal conductor of the Lyric Opera of Chicago in 2000. His tenure ended in 2021, but he continued to live in Chicago, where he died.
Outside the U.S., the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra appointed him chief conductor in June 2012, effective January 2013. He remained in that position until 2019.
