Davis Joachim

Joachim, Davis

Davis Joachim. Guitarist, teacher, editor, administrator, b Shanghai 20 Jul 1949, naturalized Canadian 1955; B MUS (UQAM) 1974, arts administration diploma (Concordia) 1991. He began his guitar studies with Antonin Bartos at the École normale in Montreal. Later he undertook advanced studies with Eli Kassner in Toronto and John Mills in London. Besides performing regularly, notably for the SMCQ, he has taught at the UQAM and at Concordia University. In 1970 he was awarded a scholarship by Electron magazine for his electronic work Quasar. He attended the master classes of Siegfried Behrend in Riedenburg, Germany, in the summers of 1974 and 1976, where he twice won the Ausgezeichnete Leistung prize (exceptional artist). In 1976 the Canada Council awarded him a grant for three commissioned Canadian works. In May and June of the same year he accompanied Jacques Labrecque on a Canadian tour. In 1979, he was a winner of the International Stepping Stones of the Canadian Music Competitions. He has been a soloist, in particular, with the Orchestre de la Suisse romande, the philharmonic orchestras of Brasov and of Bucharest, the MSO, the Quebec Symphony Orchestra, and the McGill Chamber Orchestra. He performs his own Étude and works by Samuel Dolin, Rolland Côté, and his father, Otto Joachim, on the LP Canadian Music for Classical Guitar (Melbourne SMLP 4025), and works by Bach, Giuliani, Villa-Lobos, Brindle-Borsi, and Otto Joachim on RCI 392. With the flutist Eric Wilner in 1977 he formed the Classical Duo of Montreal which in 1990, had presented over 1000 concerts in 11 countries. In 1978 the duo recorded works by Vinci, Carulli, Margola, and Otto Joachim (RCI 482), and works by Hotteterre, Gragnani, Prager, Ibert, and Villa-Lobos (SNE 514).

Towards the end of the 1980s, Joachim turned to administration and arts promotion and founded Productions Davis Joachim.

See also Walter (his uncle).

Writings

'Guitar music in Canada,' MSc, 281 Jan-Feb 1975