Biography
Photo: Fu
Steph Davis is a marimbist, gyil player, Africana studies scholar, and cultural activist. Grounded in the culture and sounds of the African diaspora, Davis’ performances can be described as sonic portraits of Black lineage, love, resilience, hope, grief, and truth. Their anthropological approach to programming explores Black historiographies and uses music to inspire truth-telling and collective liberation.
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Hailed by The Washington Post as a "crisp, controlled" performer who brings "bright humanity and expressive depth" to contemporary music, Davis has performed hundreds of concerts as a marimba soloist and chamber musician. Encompasing original arrangements of spirituals, traditional West African gyil music, and Western classical and contemporary music, Davis’ performances push the boundaries of genre while centering African-descended people and cultures. Through their arrangements, commissions, and compositions, they have contributed over 30 works by Black composers to the marimba's solo and chamber repertoire. Recent highlights include solo concerts presented by Celebrity Series of Boston and Ashmont Hill Chamber Music and interdisciplinary collaborations with dancers, poets, and playwrites. Their current projects include recording their debut solo marimba album and publishing an anthology of marimba adaptations, arrangements, and transcriptions of music from the African diaspora. Davis proudly endorses Marimba One instruments and mallets as a Marimba One Premier Artist.
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As a composer, Davis' work seeks to express sounds from the other world, the liberated world. Their music often finds pathways of expression in cyclical forms, layered parts, sonic density, water-like textures, and traditional African American music. Their music has been performed in Canada, the United Arab Emirates, and the United States. They have received commissions from New Works Project, Douglas Anderson School of the Arts, Spectrum Ensemble, Prism Percussion, Modern Marimba, Britton-René Collins, Michael Ptacin, and Cameron Denby.
As an educator, Davis is a teaching artist with Castle of our Skins, an instructor of music theory at the Boston Conservatory, and a sought-after lecturer and writer about music. They have led educational residencies at the Boston Children’s Chorus and Boston Children’s Museum and have presented performances and masterclasses on marimba and vibraphone at the University of Central Florida, University of Massachusetts Amherst, the Center of Mallet Percussion Research at Kutztown University, and the Network for Diversity in Concert Percussion.
Davis has enjoyed residencies at Avaloch Farm Music Institute, Boston Center for the Arts, and the Goethe-Institut Boston, and fellowships with Antenna Cloud Farm and Music for Food. Their work has been supported by the New England Foundation for the Arts, Massachusetts Cultural Council, City of Boston Arts and Culture, and Cambridge Arts Council. They were a semifinalist in the Southern California Marimba International Artist Competition and a finalist in the Boston Conservatory Concerto Competition.
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Davis received their Master of Music in marimba performance from Boston Conservatory at Berklee, where they studied with Nancy Zeltsman. They also hold a Bachelor of Music in percussion performance from the Conservatory. Other areas of study include African American history, ethnomusicology, music of the African diaspora, and Africana philosophy. Davis currently studies gyil with gyil master SK Kakraba. They serve on the boards of directors of Castle of our Skins.
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Davis resides on unceded land of the Neponset band of the Massachusett tribe, bordertown Dorchester, Boston, MA.
