Roland Davis - 2004 Spotlight

     Roland Davis graduated at the top of his class with a double major in Philosophy and Music Composition from the University of Hawaii. He also earned Highest Honors for his Bachelor of Arts in Music Composition, all while performing and teaching in Hawaii and in 12 other countries.

    This fall he will begin studying composition with jazz legend Bob Brookmeyer at the prestigious New England Conservatory, which won a DownBeat Award for Best Jazz Orchestra this year.

     During his undergraduate studies, Roland won over 30 awards and scholarships in Philosophy and Music including two UH Composer of the Year Awards, Philosophy Departmental Award,  Music Departmental Award, Heidi Research in Music Scholarship, and FM/AM Music Scholarship.

     He is a Presser Scholar as well as an All-American Scholar, and is a member of Phi Beta Kappa, Phi Kappa Lambda, and the Golden Key National Honors Society.

     When Roland was not performing or teaching or studying for simultaneous degrees at UH, he was composing.

     In 2002, he won the ASCAP Classical Composition Contest, West Coast, for his string quartet, "Ex Nihilo."  "The multi-movement piece," according to Roland, "is a musical metaphor conveying the creation, expansion, and the excitement over the perpetual existence of something, anything, the universe, art, love...which seems to come into existence 'out of nothing.'"

     Roland is also this year's winner of the coveted DownBeat National Award in the category of Best Jazz Soloist, College.  The DownBeat Award, considered one of the most prestigious music awards in the country, is a nationwide competition in which the jurors do not know the performers' names or their colleges. The applicants submit 10 minute, anonymous recordings for the competition.

     Roland calls his entry,  "A representation of the history of jazz improvisation...in 10 minutes! I played a Swing solo, a Bebop solo, an original arrangement for unaccompanied jazz guitar, containing true polyphony, a Contemporary solo, and a performance of a Keith Jarrett solo," which he transcribed.

     Roland has studied for the last year with jazz legend Charlie Banacos. "Without Charlie, the DownBeat Award would have remained just a dream!"

     Roland's view of the UH Honors Program: "It was so exciting to meet and work with students who were the leaders in different areas of study at UH and who were well on their way to becoming leaders in their fields.  Not only did the Honors Program gave me the chance to work with some of the best and brightest students at UH, it allowed me access to amazing faculty members who went out of their way to create opportunities and support for each of us.  The camaraderie I felt and the striving for excellence I saw around me in the Honors Program is something I'll never forget and something I wish all students could feel."