Andrew Davis

Sir Andrew Frank Davis (born 2 February 1944) is an English conductor. He is currently music director and principal conductor of Lyric Opera of Chicago, chief conductor of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and conductor laureate of both the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and the BBC Symphony Orchestra. Born in Ashridge, Hertfordshire to Robert J. Davis and his wife Florence Joyce (née Badminton), Davis grew up in Chesham, Buckinghamshire, and in Watford. Davis attended Watford Boys' Grammar School, where he studied classics in his sixth form years. His adolescent musical work included playing the organ at the Palace Theatre, Watford. Davis studied at the Royal Academy of Music and King's College, Cambridge where he was an organ scholar, graduating in 1967. He later studied conducting in Rome with Franco Ferrara.