Troy Davis

Courses

MUSC 003: Music Theory

MUSC 004: Music Theory

MUSC 005: Music Fundamentals

MUSC 006: Introduction to Music Education

MUSC 009: Jazz Music History

MUSC 010: Music Appreciation

MUSC 020: Musicianship

MUSC 039: Applied Music Seminar

MUSC 044: Musical Theater and Opera Scenes

MUSC 049: Symphonic Band

MUSC 051: Jazz Band

MUSC 054: Rock and Roll History

Biography

Troy Davis is the Director of Instrumental Music and Jazz Studies at West Valley College in Saratoga and an adjunct faculty in the Music Education Department at Boston University. He is the Camp Director for Hayward-La Honda Music Camp, the Director Emeritus of the Oakland Municipal Band, and was the Interim Music Director of the San Francisco State University Wind Ensemble for the 2014–2015 academic year. He has served as a guest conductor for the San Francisco Wind Ensemble (now SF Wind Symphony), Cazadero Music Camp, the Peninsula Youth Orchestra, the Holy Names College Youth Concerto Festival, the Contra Costa County Honor Jazz Band, the North Tahoe County Honor Band, the Palo Alto Unified School District Honor Band, the Fremont Unified School District Honor Band, and Summer Music at Stanley, as well as on international tours to China, Canada, Australia, Brazil, Ireland, Italy, and Austria.

In addition to conducting, Dr. Davis is a freelance oboist and was a member of the Grammy-winning San Francisco Symphony Chorus, with whom he recorded three albums. He has performed with many great artists around the Bay Area including The Grateful Dead, The Drifters, Dmitri Matheny, Taylor Eigsti, Mic Gillette, Garth Brooks, Robin Williams, Pete Escovedo, Michael Tilson Thomas, the San Francisco Opera Orchestra, and the San Francisco Symphony. He is also an active adjudicator for California Music Educators Association (CMEA), Music in the Parks, and Forum Music Festivals and was selected as an inaugural mentor for the CMEA mentorship program for young and new music educators.

Dr. Davis was honored as the CMEA “Outstanding Music Educator of the Year” for 2017, as a "Distinguished Music Educator" by Yale University in 2011, received the “Outstanding Achievement Award in Music Education” from Boston University in 2020, and the coveted “Oak TREE Award” for exemplary service to West Valley College in 2020. He completed his Doctor of Musical Arts degree in music education from Boston University, Master of Arts in Teaching with a music education focus from Notre Dame de Namur University, and Bachelor of Music in oboe performance from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. Upcoming publications include “Empathy and Deep Listening in Jazz Improvisation,” a book chapter in the Oxford Handbook of Care in Music Education and “Self-Assessment in Jazz Improvisation,” an article in the Psychology of Music journal.