Monte Hill Davis (May 24, 1932 – June 2, 2018) was an American classical pianist.

Concert career

Davis toured and performed in Europe, Brazil, Peru, Balzano, Italy ( the Busoni), 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 The Ferruccio Busoni International Piano Competition is a music competition for young pianists that takes place in Bolzano, Italy. It was founded in 1949 by Cesare Nordio in memory of the pianist and composer Ferruccio Busoni. History The firs ...

. Davis also performed with the

Dallas Symphony Orchestra The Dallas Symphony Orchestra (DSO) is an American orchestra based in Dallas, Texas. Its principal performing venue is the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center in the Arts District, Dallas, Arts District of downtown Dallas. History The orchestra tr ...

, the Dallas Pops Orchestra directed by

Arthur Fiedler Arthur Fiedler (December 17, 1894 – July 10, 1979) was an American Conductor (music), conductor known for his association with both the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Boston Symphony and Boston Pops Orchestra, Boston Pops orchestras. With a combi ...

, the

National Symphony Orchestra The National Symphony Orchestra (NSO) is an American symphony orchestra based in Washington, D.C. Founded in 1930 by cellist Hans Kindler, its principal performing venue is the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. The NSO regularly ...

under the direction of

Howard Mitchell Howard Mitchell (11 March 1911 – 22 June 1988) was an American cellist and conductor who was born in Lyons, Nebraska and died in Ormond Beach, Florida. He was principal conductor of the National Symphony Orchestra from 1949 to 1969. A ...

, and the

Boston Pops The Boston Pops is an American orchestra based in Boston, Massachusetts, specializing in light classical and popular music. The orchestra's current music director is Keith Lockhart. Founded in 1885 as an offshoot of the Boston Symphony Orc ...

Selected awards

* 1949 — Gold Medal, G. B. Dealey Memorial Award,

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

(co-winner with Mary Nan Hudgins) * October 1952 – Silver Medal,

Geneva International Music Competition The Geneva International Music Competition () is one of the world's leading international music competitions, founded in 1939. In 1957, it was one of the founding members of the World Federation of International Music Competition (WFIMC), whose he ...

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

Teaching career

Davis began teaching piano at

Southern Methodist University Southern Methodist University (SMU) is a Private university, private research university in Dallas, Texas, United States, with a satellite campus in Taos County, New Mexico. SMU was founded on April 17, 1911, by the Methodist Episcopal Church, ...

in 1962.

Education

Davis began studying piano when she was five years old. She appeared with the

Houston Symphony Orchestra The Houston Symphony is an American orchestra based in Houston, Texas. The orchestra is resident at the Jesse H. Jones Hall for the Performing Arts. History The first concert of what was to become the Houston Symphony took place on June 21, 1 ...

, playing

Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791) was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition and proficiency from an early age ...

's Piano Concerto in D major, when she was nine years old. Three years later, on the recommendation of Ernst Hoffmann, she was sent to

Denton, Texas Denton is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Denton County, Texas, Denton County. With a population of 139,869 as of 2020, it is the List of cities in Texas by population, 20th-most populous city in Texas, the List of Un ...

, to study with Isabel and Silvio Scionti. She stayed in Denton through high school and went on to the

University of North Texas The University of North Texas (UNT) is a public university, public research university located in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. Its main campus is in Denton, Texas, Denton, with a satellite campus in Frisco, Texas, Frisco. It serves as the ...

where in 1952 she earned a

Bachelor of Music A Bachelor of Music (BMus; sometimes conferred as Bachelor of Musical Arts) is an academic degree awarded by a college, university, or conservatory upon completion of a program of study in music. The degree may be awarded for performance, music ed ...

in piano and in 1957 she earned a

Master of Music The Master of Music (MM or MMus) is, as an academic title, the first graduate degree in music awarded by universities and conservatories. The MM combines advanced studies in an applied area of specialization (usually performance in singing or i ...

in piano. In 1963, Davis studied piano with Ilona Kabos in London.

Personal life and 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 11 crash near

Centerville, Iowa Centerville is a city in and the county seat of Appanoose County, Iowa, United States. The population was 5,412 in the 2020 census, a decline from 5,924 in 2000. After the turn of the 20th century Centerville's coal mining industry attracted ...

. It was the first known case of sabotage aboard a commercial jet airliner. Jack was a former saxophonist and advertising entrepreneur. He had studied one semester (fall 1950) at the

during which time he had playing in Lab Band directed by Gene Hall. Because of the

Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...

, Alexander left school to join the U.S. Army Special Service — a 3-year tour. In 1955, he was an account executive at

PAMS PAMS Productions, Inc. (an acronym for Production, Advertising and Merchandising Service), based in Dallas, Texas, was one of the most famous jingle production companies in American broadcasting. It produced identification packages for radio stat ...

. In 1960, Alexander earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from

. He had also been a partner at Futuresonic Productions Inc., a producer of jingles. Monte and Jack had two daughters: Monte Ann and Katherine Lee. Davis died in Dallas on June 2, 2018.Monte Hill Davis Alexander obituary
''The Dallas Morning News'', 10 Jun 2018. Retrieved 2018-06-10.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Davis, Monte Hill 1932 births 2018 deaths American classical pianists American male classical pianists Texas classical music University of North Texas College of Music alumni Southern Methodist University faculty 20th-century American pianists 20th-century American women pianists 20th-century American male musicians American women academics 21st-century American women