Brent Michael Davids

Brent Michael Davids (Mohican/Munsee-Lenape) is a professional composer and a music warrior for Native equity and parity, especially in concert music, where there is little Indigenous influence. Davids places Native voices front and center. He originated and co-founded the Native American Composer Apprentice Project (NACAP), championing Indigenous youth to compose their own written music. He uses Indigenous instruments, including handmade quartz flutes, and pens performable notations that are themselves visual works of art. Davids is co-director of the Lenape Center in Manhattan and is enrolled in the Stockbridge-Munsee community. His composer career spans five decades, with numerous awards and commissions from major American organizations and ensembles.

International ensembles have premiered his works globally in Austria, Bermuda, Canada, England, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Russia, Scotland, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, and throughout the United States, including at Carnegie Hall, Disney Concert Hall, Rothko Chapel, the Joyce Theater, Lincoln Center, Lincoln Center Out of Doors, and the Kennedy Center. Davids is in high demand as an educator and consultant for films, television, schools, festivals, seminars, and workshops. In 2006, the National Endowment for the Arts named Davids one of the nation's most celebrated choral composers in its project "American Masterpieces: Three Centuries of Artistic Genius." In 2015, the Indian Summer Music Festival awarded Davids its lifetime achievement award.

Davids' most recent project is Requiem for America: Singing for the Invisible People. This major work tackles the genocidal founding of America, giving voice to America's Indigenous people. Requiem exposes a specific genocide in each state, juxtaposing genocidal texts from America's founding against historical letters from American Indians themselves. In addition to the Western singers and orchestra, each performance features Indigenous singers recruited from local tribal communities. Once completed, it is hoped that Requiem will tour every state in the country.