Elizabeth Skola Davis

About the Artist

Born at Womack Army Hospital, Fort Bragg, North Carolina, Elizabeth Skola Davis moved frequently growing up. Under the tutelage of her mother, she studied voice before moving on to the piano, organ and cello, then earned a B.M. in cello performance from the University of Evansville. While pursuing a master's degree at Louisiana State University, she shifted majors from performance to music theory, then ultimately to music composition. As a student of Dr. Dinos Constantinides, Davis earned several awards including third prize in the 1989 ASCAP Victor Herbert Young Composers competition and one of seven honorable mentions in the 1991 contest. Ms. Davis performed professionally for seventeen years with two major metropolitan orchestras, the Evansville Philharmonic Orchestra and the Baton Rouge Symphony Orchestra. Other groups she has performed with include the Acadiana Symphony, Austin Civic Orchestra, Austin Symphony, Louisiana Sinfonietta, Mission Chamber Orchestra, Mission City Opera, Natchez Opera, and Southeastern Louisiana University Opera, as well as numerous chamber and studio recording ensembles. Principal cellist of the Palo Alto Philharmonic in the San Francisco bay area for several years, Davis is currently principal cellist for the Columbia Orchestra and Strings Instructor at St. Vincent Pallotti high school in Laurel, MD.