Victor Albert Davies CM is a Canadian composer, pianist, and conductor, best known for his opera Transit of Venus and The Mennonite Piano Concerto.
As a child and teenager, he studied the piano and violin, sang in church choirs, played in jazz and rock bands, and took courses with Ronald Gibson and Peggie Sampson at the University of Manitoba.
Between 1968 and 1970 he led and composed for a 'third stream' jazz ensemble and attended Pierre Boulez's 1969 conducting class in Switzerland.
He became the music director at the Manitoba Theatre Centre in 1964 and from 1966 to 1970 he worked as a composer, arranger, and conductor for CBC Radio and television.
He has written music for several commissions including Pulsations (1978) for the CBC; Anerca (1969) for the Contemporary Dancers; Animal Capers (1983) for the Famous People Players; The Magic Trumpet (1969) and Reginald the Robot (1971) for the Manitoba Theatre Centre; Fun For Four (1980) for the Orford String Quartet; The Big Top (1985) for the Royal Winnipeg Ballet; numerous works for the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra including Celebrations (1969), From Harmony (1968), A Short Symphony (1974), and the Jazz Piano Concerto (2001); Jazz Concerto for Organ and Orchestra (2000) for Wayne Marshall; and Yukon Scenes (1985/1997) for the Yukon Arts Council among others.
It premiered in February 1996 by the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra and the Mennonite Oratorio Choir under Bramwell Tovey and has subsequently been performed in Vancouver, Ottawa, and Hamilton.