Gareth Davis | bass clarinet
Gareth Davis studied with Antony Pay and Roger Heaton in London and then with Dutch Bass Clarinet virtuoso, Harry Sparnaay in Amsterdam. He was invited by the French cellist Alain Meunier, to attend the prestigious Accademia Chigiana di Siena on a Scholarship and study chamber music with Yuri Bashmit, Katia Labeque, Tchaikovsky Prize winner Mario Brunello and the Italian composer, Luciano Berio.
Since his debut, at the age of 18, at London’s Wigmore Hall, Gareth has gone on to play throughout Europe, North America and Asia. He has played under conductors including Riccardo Chailly, Sir Simon Rattle, Diego Masson, Gregory Rose and Roger Norington with orchestras and ensembles including the Philarmonia, Sinfonietta, ECO, Asko, Netherlands Radio Orchestra and Sinfonia 21. He also performed with the Neue Vocalsolisten, Sinfonietta and JACK Quartet, cellist Frances-Marie Uitti, guitarist Elliot Sharp, experimental noise band Nadja and electronic artists Scanner and Machinefabriek.
Gareth has been strongly involved in New Music having had pieces written for him by many composers such as, Salvatore Sciarrino, Jonathan Harvey, Toshio Hosokawa, Gavin Bryars, Peter Eotvos and Misato Mochizuki. He has worked extensively with the Hilliard Ensemble’s countertenor David James, soprano Sarah Leonard, harpsichord virtuoso Jane Chapman, Heinz Holliger, Sine Nomine, Kreutzer Quartet the Rossetti Quartet and Xenakis Prize winning contra bassist, Corrado Canonnici.
Gareth has performed at many prestigious festivals including the Bienalle di Venezia, Prague Spring, Amsterdam, Ars, Vienna, Stockholm, Santa Fe, World Music Days and Salzburg. He has performed both contemporary and traditional repertoire on modern and period instruments and on folk instruments including the Romanian Taragota and Turkish Sol. In 2001 Gareth formed the duo ‘muta’ with accordian. In only a year nearly 40 works have been commissioned by composers including Magnus Lindburg, Rebecca Saunderds and Jo Kondo.
Gareth is currently exploring the potential of interactive visual media to expand the interpretation of existing twentieth century repertoire and open new theatrical possibilities for the performance of twenty-first century music.