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Michael Davis, assistant artistic director (2002), is originally from northeast Arkansas. His work as a conductor and musician includes an eclectic background of nearly 40 years of professional performing experience in genres from bluegrass, jazz, popular, and western-swing to the standard repertoire of opera, choral, orchestral, and choral-orchestral masterworks. Most recently Davis served as chorus master for Krzysztof Urbanski’s staged productions of Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte (2018) and Bizet’s Carmen (2016), Patrick Quigley and Michael Christie’s performance of Handel’s Messiah (2015 and 2017, respectively), and Eric Stark’s world premiere (2015) and Carnegie Hall performance of Mohammed Fairouz’s commissioned oratorio Zabur released by Naxos Records (both 2016). Other current musical endeavors include guitarist/pianist in The Pithy Oddfellows (a jazz quintet focused on the repertoire of the Great American Songbook), dobro/mandolin in The Bluegrass Roundabouts, and minister of music at First Presbyterian Church in Noblesville, Indiana.
Davis’s former conducting positions include director/producer of the critically acclaimed Ball State University Singers, “Indiana’s Official Goodwill Ambassadors,” as well as founder/conductor of Das Neue Kapellorchester and Cantabile!, artistic director of Westminster Orchestra, associate conductor of the Ball State Chamber Choir, and assistant conductor for Indianapolis Arts Chorale. Davis has held teaching positions at Manchester College and Ball State University. Having first performed at Carnegie Hall with Robert Shaw in the Robert Shaw Festival Singers in 1997, he has regularly performed in the chorus as a part of Carnegie Hall’s ongoing professional training workshops where he has sung with conductors including Charles Dutoit, Neville Marriner, Andre Previn, Robert Spano, Norman Mackenzie, John Rutter, Vance George, Donald Neuen, James Conlon, and Peter Shreier. He made his New York City conducting debut at Carnegie Hall with Manchester College’s A Cappella Choir in 2001.
Accepting the position of general manager in 2018, Davis brings a lifetime of business and financial services experience to his expanded responsibilities within the organization. In addition to growing up in the family’s 50-year accounting business, he held corporate leadership positions managing people, projects, and lines-of-business for multi-regional financial institutions and community banks for 15 years. A certified DiSC™ Trainer, corporate facilitator, and sales coach, Davis supported the development of executive leaders, managers, and individual producers specializing in customer/employee experience, career pathing, and business strategy. He has served and consulted leaders from large global corporations, small businesses, non-profit boards, and churches. In addition to degrees in conducting and vocal performance, Davis holds the doctor of arts degree in choral conducting and higher education administration and leadership from Ball State University. He is currently pursuing the master of social work degree from Indiana University (anticipated completion 2021).
