Composer
At Seattle Opera in 2023/24: Composer, X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X
Hometown: San Diego, CA
Seattle Opera Debut
Opera News has called Anthony Davis, “A National Treasure,” for his pioneering work in opera. His music has made an important contribution not only in opera, but in chamber, choral, and orchestral music. He has been on the cutting edge of improvised music and jazz for over four decades. Anthony Davis continues to explore new avenues of expression while retaining a distinctly original voice. He has composed eight operas. X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X with a libretto by Thulani Davis, had its world premiere at the New York City Opera in 1986 and was presented in a new production at Detroit Opera in May 2022. This new production, directed by Robert O’Hara traveled to Opera Omaha the following October. The opera moved to the Metropolitan Opera in November 2023 to rave reviews and debuted in live stream across the country as well as abroad as part of the Met’s Live in HD series on November 18, 2023. After the Seattle Opera production Lyric Opera of Chicago will present X in 2025. A new recording of the opera was released on BMOP Records in September 2022 and was nominated for a Grammy Award.
A graduate of Yale University in 1975, Mr. Davis is currently Distinguished Professor of Music at the University of California, San Diego. In 2020 he was elected as a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters. In 2008 he received the “Lift Every Voice” Legacy Award from the National Opera Association acknowledging his pioneering work in opera. In 2006 Mr. Davis was awarded a fellowship from the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation. Mr. Davis has also been honored by the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the New York Foundation of the Arts, the National Endowment of the Arts, the Massachusetts Arts Council, the Carey Trust, Chamber Music America, Meet-the-Composer Wallace Fund, the MAP fund with the Rockefeller Foundation, and Opera America. He has been an artist fellow at the MacDowell Colony, Civitella Ranieri, and at the Rockefeller Foundation’s Bellagio Center in Italy.
Last Updated: November 2023