Monte Hill Davis
Encyclopedia
Concert career
Davis has toured and performed in Europe, Brazil, Peru, Balzano, Italy (the BusoniFerruccio Busoni International Piano Competition
The Ferruccio Busoni International Piano Competition is a music competition for young pianists that takes place in Bolzano, Italy.-History: The first Ferruccio Busoni International Piano Competition was organized by Cesare Nordio in 1949 to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the death of pianist and...
), Geneva, Switzerland, and Munich, Germany. Davis won first prize in the International Piano Competition in Munich in 1955. She won second place in the 1953 Ferruccio Busoni International Piano Competition
Ferruccio Busoni International Piano Competition
The Ferruccio Busoni International Piano Competition is a music competition for young pianists that takes place in Bolzano, Italy.-History: The first Ferruccio Busoni International Piano Competition was organized by Cesare Nordio in 1949 to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the death of pianist and...
. Davis also has performed with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra
Dallas Symphony Orchestra
The Dallas Symphony Orchestra is an American orchestra. It performs its concerts in the Meyerson Symphony Center in the Arts District of downtown Dallas, Texas, United States....
, the Dallas Pops Orchestra directed by Arthur Fiedler
Arthur Fiedler
Arthur Fiedler was a long-time conductor of the Boston Pops Orchestra, a symphony orchestra that specializes in popular and light classical music. With a combination of musicianship and showmanship, he made the Boston Pops one of the best-known orchestras in the country...
, the National Symphony Orchestra
National Symphony Orchestra
The National Symphony Orchestra , founded in 1931, is an American symphony orchestra that performs at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C.-History:...
under the direction of Howard Mitchell
Howard Mitchell
Howard Mitchell was an American cellist and conductor. He conducted the National Symphony Orchestra from 1950 to 1969....
, and the Boston Pops.
Awards
- 1949 — Gold Medal, G. B. DealyGeorge DealeyGeorge Bannerman Dealey was a Dallas, Texas, businessman.Dealey was the long-time publisher of The Dallas Morning News. He used his influence to accomplish many goals but will always be remembered primarily for one of them. He crusaded for the redevelopment of a particularly blighted area near...
Memorial Award, Dallas (co-winner with Mary Nan Hudgins) - October 1952 — Silver Medal, Geneva International Music CompetitionGeneva International Music CompetitionThe Geneva International Music Competition is a music competitions held in Geneva, founded in 1939 in the Geneva Conservatory for a wide variety of instruments, voice, conducting, and chamber music.-See also:* List of classical music competitions* World Federation of International Music...
, SwitzerlandSwitzerlandSwitzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
Education
Davis began studying piano when she was five years old. She appeared with the Houston Symphony OrchestraHouston Symphony Orchestra
The Houston Symphony is an American orchestra based in Houston, Texas. Since 1966, it has performed at the Jesse H. Jones Hall for the Performing Arts in downtown Houston....
, playing the Mozart Piano Concerto in D Major, when she was nine years old. Three years later, on the recommendation of Ernest Hoffmann
Ernst Hoffmann (conductor)
Ernst Heinrich Hoffmann was an American conductor who served as the music director of the Houston Symphony for eleven years.Hoffmann was born in Boston, Massachusetts. His father was a violinist in the Boston Symphony Orchestra...
, she was sent to Denton, Texas
Denton, Texas
The city of Denton is the county seat of Denton County, Texas in the United States. Its population was 119,454 according to the 2010 U.S. Census, making it the eleventh largest city in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex...
, to study with Isabel and Silvio Scionti
Silvio Scionti
Silvio Vittore Alberto Scionti was an Italian-born American pianist and teacher. Born in Acireale, Sicily, he trained at the Royal Conservatory in Naples...
. She stayed in Denton through high school and went on to the University of North Texas
University of North Texas College of Music
The University of North Texas College of Music, based in Denton, is a comprehensive music school with the largest enrollment of any music institution accredited by the National Association of Schools of Music, and the oldest in the world offering a degree in jazz studies...
where in 1952 she earned a Bachelor of Music
Bachelor of Music
Bachelor of Music is an academic degree awarded by a college, university, or conservatory upon completion of program of study in music. In the United States, it is a professional degree; the majority of work consists of prescribed music courses and study in applied music, usually requiring a...
in piano and in 1957 she earned a Master of Music
Master of Music
The Master of Music is the first graduate degree in Music awarded by universities and music conservatories. The M.Mus. combines advanced studies in an applied area of specialization with graduate-level academic study in subjects such as music history, music theory, or music pedagogy...
in piano. In 1963, Davis studied piano with Ilona Kabos (1893–1973) in London.
Family
In 1953, Davis returned from Europe to America to marry Jack David Alexander who, in 1962, was among the 45 crew and passengers killed in a Continental Airlines Flight 11Continental Airlines Flight 11
Continental Airlines Flight 11, registration N70775, was a Boeing 707 aircraft which exploded in the vicinity of Centerville, Iowa, while en route from O'Hare Airport, Chicago, Illinois, to Kansas City, Missouri, on May 22, 1962...
crash near Centerville, Iowa
Centerville, Iowa
Centerville is a city in and the county seat of Appanoose County, Iowa, United States. The population was 5,528 in the 2010 census, a decline from 5,924 in the 2000 census. After the turn of the 20th century Centerville had a booming coal mining industry that attracted many European immigrants...
. It was the first known case of sabotage aboard a commercial jet airliner. Jack had been a saxophonist studying at the University of North Texas
University of North Texas College of Music
The University of North Texas College of Music, based in Denton, is a comprehensive music school with the largest enrollment of any music institution accredited by the National Association of Schools of Music, and the oldest in the world offering a degree in jazz studies...
and had also been a partner at Futuresonic Productions Inc., a producer of jingles. Before then, beginning in 1955, he had been an account executive at PAMS
PAMS
PAMS , based in Dallas, Texas, was the most famous jingle production company in American broadcasting. It produced identification packages for radio stations around the world, as well as some commercial music.-History:The company was founded by William B. Meeks, Jr. PAMS (an acronym for Production,...
. Monte and Jack had two girls: Monte Ann and Katherine Lee (born 1961; married to Bryan Lee).