DAVISOn Saturday, May 8, 2010, at 8 p.m., the curtain will rise at the Washington Little Theater’s Bolton Lunceford Playhouse for the third program of the Washington-Wilkes Historical Foundation’s Concert Series. The previous two were met with acclaim and delight and this one should add even more accolades. Entitled “An Evening with Davidson and Davis,” the performance features violinist David Davidson and pianist Russell Davis.David Davidson was born into a musical family and raised in Winter Haven, Florida. Piano lessons for him began at age five and the study of violin at age nine. He received a violin scholarship to Florida State University and at age nineteen became a professional classical musician. For four years he served as concertmaster for the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra.
In 1983 he began playing nonclassical recording sessions in Nashville, eventually appearing on albums by a wide variety of major country, rock, pop, and contemporary Christian music artists. He was a member of the A Strings who recorded “Home for Christmas” on Warner Brothers Records. In 1992 he organized David Davidson and the Praise Ensemble to record the ground-breaking instrumental Christian album “Praise Ensemble” which was followed by “Psalms of Everlasting Hope.” His instrumental albums with the Green Hill label include such huge successes as “Silver Screen Classics,” “Prelude to Joy,” “Phantom of Broadway,” “Heartstrings” (a duet album with Russell Davis), and “Celtic Fantasy.”
DAVIDSONDavidson’s list of recording credits – over 20,000 songs – is the best testimony to the outstanding success of his playing and arranging in the commercial music world. Just in the last three years he has worked with artists as varied as Clay Aiken, Jason Mraz, the Backstreet Boys, Amy Grant, Third Day, Blake Shelton, and Kellie Pickler.He has performed around the world as concertmaster, soloist, and chamber musician. His passionate use of violin and strings in all forms of commercial and concert music lends him an artistic edge.
Pianist Russell Davis, a native Tennessean, has worked with a wide variety of artists and styles as a performer, composer, arranger, and accomplished accompanist. He, too, is a featured artist with Green Hill and has produced numerous recording projects for vocalists and instrumentalists, including the critically acclaimed “O Then I’ll Think of Thee,” an album beautifully capturing the music of antebellum Nashville. Currently music director for Belmont University’s music theater program, he also serves as accompanist for a number of Nashville-area institutions including the Tennessee Repertory Theater and Harpeth Hall. He is a music director for Celebrity and Norwegian Line cruises as well. Recently a contributor of music for the motion picture “Four Christmases,” he has performed with Amy Grant, Ronnie Milsap, Jars of Clay, and many others, lending his signature evocative phrasing to everything from jazz, pop, and Christian to new age and easy listening.
“An Evening with Davidson and Davis” promises to be an entertainment experience that will be
