My piece Tableau No. VI, for solo horn, is a part of a series of solo pieces that I’ve been writing over the last year. Each work is for a different solo instrument and explores their expressive possibilities. Some composers of the latter half of the 20th century have explored this idea, notably Luciano Berio (14 Sequenzas), Vincent Persichetti (25 Parables), and Elliott Carter (6 Figments and 5 Retracings). Coincidentally, these are some of my favorite composers. This Tableau was commissioned by Brittany Thomas and performed by Ryan Little, Principal horn of the Naples Philharmonic

Painting by Hilma Af Klint.

Tyson Davis: Tableau No. VI, for solo horn (2020) | Ryan Little, horn

Performers: Samantha Bennett (violin), Mary Ferrillo (viola), Francesca McNeeley (cello) https://ensrq.org/

My String Trio, written for Chroma Trio and ensembleNEWSRQ was composed between January and May of 2021. The work is in seven continuous movements that have interrelating ideas, gestures, and motives. The work is semi-programmatic as the main movements, Synchromisms I, II and III and Nocturnes I and II get their names from two American artistic movements from the beginning of the 20th Century. The Synchromisms are informed by the synchromist paintings and ideas of MacDonald-Wright and Russel. The concept of these works juxtaposed bright and neutral tones in a completely abstract form.The works have sharp lines and shapes that create a variety of moods and intensities. MacDonald-Writght’s “Synchromy No. 3”, which is on display at the Brooklyn Museum in NewYork was the work I took my main inspiration. Nocturnes I and II are informed by the American Post-Impressionist works of James Abbott McNeill Whistler. These paintings are extremely murky with dark tones. The dark tones that are accented with touches of gold or white that blur the context of the paintings. These works were the early stages of abstraction that would influence schools of thought, such as the Synchromists and the Abstract Expressionist. Nocturnes I and II are works that float and suspend time in an attempt to focus in on the colors and murkiness of the Whistler paintings. Whistler’s “Nocturne in Gold and Black” was the main painting I thought of while writing Nocturnes I and II.

Synchomisms and Nocturnes (String Trio) (2021) | ensembleNEWSRQ + Chroma Trio

performed by Kevin Fitzgerald and ÆPEX Contemporary Performance on June 3rd, 2022.

My work, Distances was commissioned by the Albany Symphony Orchestra in 2020 and was premiered in February of 2021. This work explores themes of strong emotions and anxieties that society has been recently affected by due to the almost “New World Order” that living in Pandemic (COVID-19) has caused. The work is full of ambiguity and lingering passages that evoke the emotions of contemporary society. In general, I feel that reflections of society and deep, intense emotions in my work are essential to my work as an artist. A mirror image of who we truly are and what lurks beneath the surface is what this and my other work have and will continue to deal with.
-T.D. 12.23.20

Tyson Gholston Davis: Distances, for ensemble (2020) | Kevin Fitzgerald/ÆPEX Contemporary Ensemble

Grey Fireworks, for violin and piano (2022)

Duo Concertante (after Helen Frankenthaler)

First performance on the 1st of September 2022 at Lukaskirche Kirchensaal, Luzern, Switzerland by Samuel Nebyu (violin) and Charles Abramovic (piano) as a part of the Summer Festival of Lucerne Festival 2022

Grey Fireworks is a work that is a response to a painting of the same name by the American abstract expressionist Helen Frankenthaler. The composition, like the painting, moves quickly through various moods, colors, and gestures. The immense motion, choice of colors, and seemingly improvisational burst of bright hues of the painting enabled the composition’s structure and capricious quality that certain gestures have in the work. Grey Fireworks was commissioned by the I & I Foundation for
Samuel Nebyu (violin) and Charles Abramovic (piano) as part of the Summer Festival of Lucerne Festival 2022.

Grey Fireworks, for violin and piano (2022) | Samuel Nebyu (violin)

Tyson J. Davis (b.2000): Roswell Incident, for clarinet, violin, and piano (2018)

Performers: Stanislav Chernyshev (clarinet), Barbora Kolarova (violin) and Peter Miyamoto (piano)

Recording of a live performance on August 4, 2018, at the Curtis Institute of Music, Field concert hall.

Roswell Incident

Delicate Tension, for orchestra (2019)

Conducted by Antonio Pappano

Performance by the National Youth Orchestra of the United States of America at the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg on August 14th, 2019

"Commissioned by the U.S. Embassy of Berlin in celebration of the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall and inspired by the Kandinsky painting of the same name, the piece reflects on the dynamic between the Soviet Union and the West prior to fall of the Wall." Edinburgh International Festival

Delicate Tension, for Orchestra

Roric Cunningham's Album

Tableau No. VIII, for solo cello

Fragment, written by Tyson j. Davis Composer and performed by Ian David Rosenbaum on marimba, was commissioned by Metropolis Ensemble and makes its World Premiere here as part of the House Music series. Written in 2020, Fragment is Davis’s first piece for marimba, orchestral or solo. It’s part of Davis’s ongoing interest in writing short works that explore the ways music can elicit deep emotional responses. 
Davis began working with Metropolis Ensemble after flutist Emi Ferguson performed one of his works for her House Music series video. After that performance, Metropolis commissioned him to write a new solo work. Davis knew he wanted to write this work for marimba to take up a new challenge—he was excited to write a miniature piece for marimba to begin to grasp how to work with it. Rosenbaum has been working with Metropolis for a long time, as both a soloist and a collaborator with artists like violinist Kristen Lee and his quartet, Sandbox Percussion.
To put the whole piece together, Davis and Rosenbaum became virtually acquainted, using Zoom to exchange notes, to get to know each other, and to finalize the finished product. They still haven’t met in-person, but this opportunity allowed them to meet when they may not have otherwise. 
In writing Fragment, Davis hoped to illustrate what he describes as the roller coaster of emotion: Its chaotic twists and turns, its vibrant leaps and bounds. You can hear this fluidity in the drastic dynamic changes and chromatic tonality of the music, which offers a poignant glimpse into Davis’s world in just three minutes. -- Vanessa Ague

Tyson Davis: Fragment, for marimba (2020) | Ian Rosenbaum, marimba

First performance by Ana Maria Locke on December 13th, 2020 at the Voxman Music Building at the University of Iowa.

My piece Tableau No. VII, for solo clarinet is a part of a series of solo pieces that I’ve been writing for the past several months. Each work is for a different solo instrument and explores the expressive possibilities. Some composers of the latter half of the 20th century have explored this idea, notably Luciano Berio (14 Sequenzas), Vincent Persichetti (25 Parables), and Elliott Carter (6 Figments and 5 Retracings). Coincidentally, these are some of my favorite composers. This Tableau was written for Karen Luttik
-TD

Tyson Davis: Tableau No. VII, for clarinet (2020) | Ana Maria Locke, Clarinet

My piece Tableau No. IV, for solo bassoon is a part of a series of solo pieces that I’ve been writing for the past year. Each work is for a different solo instrument and explores the expressive possibilities. This performance of this work was a part of a project from the Musical Mentors Collaborative as apart of their Requiem-20 project. A response to the Covid-19 Pandemic. This Tableau was commissioned by Winfred Felton, and performed here by Daniel Matsukawa.

Tyson Davis: Tableau No. IV, for bassoon (2020) | Daniel Matsukawa, bassoon

My piece Tableau No. IX, for solo alto saxophone, is a part of a series of solo pieces that I’ve been writing for the past several months. Each work is for a different solo instrument and explores the expressive possibilities. Some composers of the latter half of the 20th century have explored this idea, notably Luciano Berio (14 Sequenzas), Vincent Persichetti (25 Parables), and Elliott Carter (6 Figments and 5 Retrachings). Coincidentally, these are some of my favorite composers. This Tableau was commissioned by Dr. Robert Young; professor of saxophone at the University North Carolina School of the Arts. (My high school alma mater.)

~July 19th, 2020~ Raleigh, North Carolina

Tyson Davis: Tableau No. IX, for solo alto saxophone | Robert Young, Saxophone

Tableau No. V, for solo double bass.

Performed by Sam Zagnit at Bass Players For Black Composers (BPBC) Concert #4, September 30, 2020

My piece Tableau No. V,  is a part of a series of solo pieces that I’ve been writing for the past several months. Each work is for a different solo instrument and explores the expressive possibilities. Some composers of the latter half of the 20th century have explored this idea, notably Luciano Berio (14 Sequenzas), Vincent Persichetti (25 Parables), and Elliott Carter (6 Figments and 5 Retrachings). Coincidentally, these are some of my favorite composers. This Tableau was written for my friend Andrew Gantzer (Juilliard '23)

Samuel Zagnit, a native New Yorker, is a graduate of the Manhattan School of Music, where he studied with Orin O’Brien and David Grossman. He recently completed his graduate studies at the Yale School of Music, with Don Palma. An avid chamber musician, Sam attended The Bowdoin Music Festival, Decoda Skidmore Chamber Music Institute, Texas Music Festival, and in August of 2018, the Lucerne Music Festival. Sam is part of the duo confluss, with Amber Evans, soprano: a new chamber ensemble committed to the performance of repertoire for their instrumentation and other unconventional setups. At MSM, Sam played with Tactus, an ensemble part of the Contemporary Performance Program. As their bassist, Sam was able to play contemporary music as an undergraduate in this graduate program for four years, including Carter’s A Mirror on Which to Dwell, and Figment III. In March 2019, he served as acting associate principal for the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, led by Mattias Pintscher, and recently returned to play with LACO accompanying his former teacher, David Grossman, in the west coast premiere of Dark with Excessive Bright, by Missy Mazolli in November 2019. Sam recently performed the works of Mason Bynes, Darian Thomas, Nick Dunston, and Sarian Sankoh for BPBC as part of  MISE_EN PLACE's Soloist Series on July 30th, 2020.

Tyson Davis: Tableau No. V, for solo double bass (2019) | Sam Zagnit, double bass

Recorded by William Leathers

My piece Tableau No. X, for solo trumpet, is a part of a series of solo pieces that I’ve been writing for the past several months. Each work is for a different solo instrument and explores their expressive possibilities. Some composers of the latter half of the 20th century have explored this idea, notably Luciano Berio (14 Sequenzas), Vincent Persichetti (25 Parables), and Elliott Carter (6 Figments and 5 Retracings). Coincidentally, these are some of my favorite composers. This Tableau was commissioned and premiered by the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra for Lynn Erickson (Trumpet)  -TD

Tableau No. X, for solo trumpet | William Leathers, trumpet

Tyson Gholston Davis (b.2000) is an American composer studying at The Juilliard School where is a recipient of the Jerome L. Greene Fellowship. Davis began composing at the age of eight years old and entered the University North Carolina School of the Arts (UNCSA) as a high school freshman, studying with Lawrence Dillon. In the summer of 2019, Davis worked with the National Youth Orchestra of the United States of America (NYO-USA) and Antonio Pappano to premiere his work, Delicate Tension, a piece that was commissioned by the American Embassy in Berlin for the 30th Anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. The work was performed in Berlin, Edinburgh, and Hamburg. 

Since then, Davis has been a leading desired composer to be performed and commissioned by leading ensembles. He has been the recipient of more than 22 commissions by organizations such as; The Juilliard String Quartet, the Albany Symphony, The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, Eighth Blackbird, WQXR (New York Public Radio), New York New Music Ensemble, Metropolis Ensemble, and various other groups and soloist. 

His recently finished work, Amorphous Figures (String Quartet No. 2) was commissioned by Da Camera Society of Houston, The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, and Chamber Music Cincinnati for the Juilliard String Quartet. The work will be premiered in April of 2023. Currently, Davis is backed up with commissions until mid-2024 with works for soprano saxophone and piano (for Robert Young), wind quintet (for Zephyros winds), solo piano (Jonathan Biss), and several others. 

Tyson’s favorite classical composers include Beethoven, Elliott Carter, Henri Dutilleux, Unsuk Chin, and Jacob Druckman. He also loves the pop music of Marvin Gaye, John Denver, Simon and Garfunkel, and many others. He lives in Washington Heights, NYC, and enjoys frequent walks in Fort Tryon Park.

Tyson Gholston Davis

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