Obituary: Michael Davis, 1944–2025

The LSO is saddened to hear of the death of former Leader Michael Davis on 13 November.

Michael was born in Chesterfield in 1944 and began studying the violin at the age of five with his father who was a longstanding member of the Hallé Orchestra. He studied at the Royal College of Music with Hugh Bean and Cecil Aronowitz, where he won many prizes and a scholarship to study with Henryk Szeryng. In 1967 he was appointed Associate Leader of the Hallé Orchestra and then Co-Leader the following year.

In 1979 he became Leader of the London Symphony Orchestra, at the same time as Claudio Abbado was appointed Music Director. The resulting collaboration led to many outstanding performances, appearances at major festivals including Salzburg, and acclaimed recordings for Deutsche Grammophon. In 1982 Michael led the LSO at the opening concert in the Barbican which was the LSO’s new base. During his time there he worked with many world-class soloists and conductors including Leonard Bernstein and Rafael Kubelik.

Michael left the LSO in 1987 and returned to the Hallé to become their Leader.  He subsequently joined the BBC Symphony Orchestra and was their Leader for many years.

Our thoughts are with Michael’s family and friends at this sad time.