Paul L. Davis dead at 90

Paul L. Davis, 90, of Laurel, Maryland, organist and teacher, died July 15. Born May 10, 1936, he graduated from Williamsport High School, Williamsport, Maryland, in 1954 and attended Bridgewater College, Bridgewater, Virginia, before entering the Peabody Conservatory, Baltimore, Maryland, where he received his Bachelor of Music and master’s degrees in 1959. He was then awarded a Fulbright scholarship for studies in Frankfurt, Germany, with Helmut Walcha. In 1963 he began his doctoral work at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, with Marilyn Mason. Upon being offered a teaching assistantship by Peabody, he returned there and completed his doctorate in 1974. Additional studies were pursued at the Organ Institute in Andover, Massachusetts, where his American teacher, Arthur Howes, was director, as well as in Spain at the University of Salamanca, the Goethe Institute in Germany, and with German harpsichordist, Maria Jaeger-Jung.

Davis was for 45 years organist and director of music for Christ Lutheran Church (Inner Harbor), Baltimore, retiring in 2011, and an organ teacher at the Peabody Institute of John Hopkins University (1968–1984). He was also associate professor, serving several years as chairman of the music department at the University of Notre Dame of Maryland (1966–1982) where he taught courses in music theory and literature and directed the college choir. From 1962 to 1965, he served as chapel organist and instructor in the music department at Berea College, Berea, Kentucky.

During the 1970s and 1980s Davis performed throughout the United States as well as in Germany, Austria, Denmark, Sweden, and Spain. He was well-known in the Füssen area in Bavaria for his frequent concerts on the eighteenth-century organ in the Wieskirche and the three organs in the Benedictine abbey in Ottobeuren. He took advantage of his many summers in the Munich area to do research for his doctoral dissertation, which centered on the Baroque organ and organ music of southern Germany.

As associate professor at Notre Dame of Maryland, Davis conducted the school’s treble-voice choir known for its performances of original choral music for equal voices from plainsong to contemporary compositions. The choir performed concerts under his direction at venues in Baltimore, Washington, DC, New York, London, Paris, and in the Netherlands, Germany, Austria, and Mexico.

As a Peabody faculty member Davis taught organ, courses in organ literature, and the history of organ construction and design. He also served as dean of the Baltimore Chapter of the American Guild of Organists in 1983 and 1984 and was the teacher of many organists and musicians in the Baltimore-Washington area.

In the mid-1980s Davis retired from teaching and concertizing to devote himself to his work at Christ Lutheran and other professional endeavors. In 2007 he was responsible for the design and installation of the new Andover organ for Christ Church. The congregation dedicated the instrument to him and the church choir, and he recorded on the organ.