Brent Michael Davids
“What has this dedicated and fluky life brought me? I would love to say wisdom, but my director’s cut would be more akin to a staggering reconnoiter than acquired illumination.”
Brent Michael Davids is a concert and film composer, co-director of the Lenape Center
in Manhattan,NY, and citizen of the MohicanNation. As an American Indian music
specialist, consultant, and educator, Davids co-founded the Native American ComposerApprentice
Project. Davids serves on the Executive Council Institute for Composer Diversity,
is a master performer of Indigenous instruments and styles, and is a designer of
original musical instruments. He holds two music composition degrees, and trained
at Sundance Institute. He apprenticed with film composer, Stephen Warbeck.
Artist Statement
What has this dedicated and fluky life brought me? I would love to say wisdom, but my director’s cut would be more akin to a staggering reconnoiter than acquired illumination.I’m generally a happy joe but still sketching the dramatic underscore to my own developing cinematography. Any composer’s accolades and kudos notwithstanding, music and life seem as braided uncertainty to me — each a hair’s breadth away from screwy heartache to crazy beautiful. I strongly believe that when we collaborate and experiment in song, the benefits go beyond music itself. Our interactions as composers, performers, audiences, students ,and teachers–Indian and non-Indian alike – constitute important relational skills. If we can excite creativity and cooperation in each other, we have accomplished a magnificent thing!”