Sir Andrew Davis CBE, MA, MusB, ARCO (1944-2024)

It was with great sadness that the College learnt of the death of Sir Andrew Davis at the weekend.

Sir Andrew's distinguished musical career started with a good deal of choral music and organ playing. A native of Hertfordshire, he sang in the choir of his school, Watford Grammar School for Boys, and was an organist in Watford. Organ lessons with Peter Hurford, the renowned organist of St Albans Cathedral, paved the way to an organ scholarship at Cambridge. Sir Andrew went up to Cambridge in 1963 to become organ scholar of King's College, where under the directorship of Sir David Willcocks he played for the annual carol service and participated in many recordings, including the Chandos Anthems of Handel, the Gloria by Vivaldi, and the music of Thomas Tallis. In its obituary, King's recalls Sir Andrew's tribute to Sir David in 2015, in which he concluded that the most challenging work of his life had been as a student, 'in the daily ascent of the stairs to the organ loft'.

From 1966 to 1970 Sir Andrew was pianist, harpsichordist, and organist with the Academy of St Martin in the Fields, but the desire to conduct had set in at Cambridge and Sir Andrew started to take conducting lessons with George Hurst and he later worked with Franco Ferrara. His conducting debut was in 1970 with the BBC Symphony Orchestra. Various conducting posts ensued before he moved to become Music Director of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. During his time at Toronto, Sir Andrew helped to establish the orchestra's new home at the Roy Thomson Hall and he was part of the advisory committee for a new organ in the hall, built by Gabriel Kney (London, Ontario).

Sir Andrew was a member of the College at the age of nineteen, immediately securing the ARCO diploma. The College was honoured when he agreed to become a Vice President some thirty years ago. Sir Andrew demonstrated perfectly how the organ and choral music can play a crucial role in the musical and educational encounters of young people, and how these disciplines can inform a lifetime of fulfilling music-making, in his case at the very highest level. At his death we learn that he was working on the orchestration of some of Bach's organ music.

Sir Andrew was a champion of a huge variety of music, not least opera through his positions as Musical Director at Glyndebourne Festival Opera and, since 2000, Chicago Lyric Opera. He was a superb advocate for contemporary music and British music, and for many in the UK he is still synonymous with the BBC Symphony Orchestra, whose Chief Conductor he was from 1989 to 2000. Utterly compelling performances at the Proms were accompanied by his legendary charm and wit as he addressed the audience at the Last Night celebrations. Sir Andrew was appointed CBE in 1992 for services to British Music and designated a Knight Bachelor in the New Year Honours List in 1999.

The College sends its condolences to Sir Andrew's family.

There are many appreciations to be downloaded. Sir Andrew's own website contains a full obituary notice: www.sirandrewdavis.com/obituary