Warren Davidson , Guest Conductor: February 24, 2008 Winter Concert.

Dr. Warren Davidson is the conductor of the Slippery Rock Symphony Orchestra and teaches violin, viola, and the strings class at Slippery Rock University.

He earned a B.A. cum laude in Philosophy and Psychology at Duquesne University before turning to full-time violin study; his principal teachers were Alan Grishman and Efim Boico. He completed an MM in violin at Duquesne, an MA in Theory and Composition at the University of Pittsburgh, a Certificate of Advanced Studies in Chamber Music at the University of Wisconsin- Milwaukee, and a Doctor of Musical Arts degree at West Virginia University where he was granted a Swiger Fellowship.

Dr. Davidson is very active as an orchestral concertmaster, recitalist, and teacher, and is comfortable in a wide variety of musical styles. In addition to his position at Slippery Rock University, he serves as concertmaster of the Westmoreland Symphony, the Altoona Symphony, and the Academy Chamber Orchestra and principal viola of the McKeesport Symphony.
Past Guest Conductors

Efraín Amaya, Guest Conductor: May 6, 2007 Spring Concert.
Composer, conductor, and pianist Efraín Amaya was born in Venezuela, where he began his musical training. Continuing his studies in United States, he earned degrees in composition and piano from the University of Indiana, Bloomington, and a master's degree in conducting from Rice University.

Amaya's compositions have been selected for performance at major international festivals in Mexico City, Caracas, New York, Seattle, and in San Francisco as well as concert series throughout the Pittsburgh area, where he currently lives. His works have been featured in international Festivals such as the Seattle Symphony's Viva la Música Festival: the American Composers Orchestra Festival of Venezuelan Music at Weill Recital Hall; The "XVII Foro Internacional de Música Nueva Manuel Enríquez" in Mexico City; The VIII and XI "Festival Latinoamericano de Música" in Caracas, Venezuela. As well as in the 31st and 29th Annual National Flute Association Conventions in Nashville, Tennessee and in Dallas, Texas; the Gala Concert of the Jeanne Baxtresser International Master Class at the Juilliard School, and in Boston on the Modern Orchestra Project recital series.

In Western Pennsylvania, his music has been included in the Sewickley Bachfest, the Shadyside Concert Series and the Renaissance City Winds concert series. His opera Clepsydra was premiered as part of the "First Night" celebrations in Pittsburgh as a collaborative multimedia performance for tape, live performers, painting installation and edited video projection, sponsored by the Associated Artists of Pittsburgh and the Heinz Endowment.

Efraín A. Amaya received a 2004 Fellowship from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts and has been a Meet The Composer Composer-in-Residence with Gateway to the Arts, WQED-FM, Renaissance City Wind Music Society and Shaler School District since September of 2001, made possible by Meet The Composer, Inc. and its New Residencies program. His debut CD "A Sense of Time" was released by Élan Recordings in 2001. Albany Records released in 2004 the two cello version recording of Silent Conversations in a CD entitled Zoo of Dreams featuring the Amici Chamber Players.

Mr. Amaya is a member of the School of Music faculty at Carnegie Mellon University. He holds the positions of Music Director and Conductor of the Three Rivers Young Peoples Orchestras and of the Greensburg America Opera. He is also the Assistant Conductor of the Westmoreland Symphony Orchestra.

 

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