Vanessa Davis is a professional clarinetist and teacher. She has appeared as a clarinetist in and around the Dallas-Fort Worth area of Texas, the Finger Lakes and Upstate New York, and the Boston area. Currently she is a clarinetist in the Lone Star Wind Orchestra and the Mesquite Symphony. She has appeared with the Texarkana Symphony, Allen Philharmonic, McKinney Philharmonic, and Sherman Symphony. Prior to her work in Dallas, she was a member of the Orchestra of the Southern Finger Lakes and the Metropolitan Wind Symphony.
In 2023 – 2024, Dr. Davis will give solo performances at the International Clarinet Association Conference in Denver, and the College Music Society Conference in Miami, and will appear as a faculty soloist with the McLennan College Wind Ensemble in addition to her regular performing engagements in addition to regular appearances in and around Dallas-Forth Worth.
As a teacher, Dr. Davis helps students reach their goals through careful planning, guided practice, and consistency, all key concepts for musicians at any level of music learning. Her students have won awards and scholarships, attending some of the most prestigious music schools in the country.
As a successful musician with a portfolio career, Dr. Davis is passionate about educating and preparing her students for the future that awaits them outside of school, encouraging her students to look outside the box to create a career that supports their passion and interest in all ways. As a result, her students use the transferable skills from their music degrees to gain employment as performers, teachers, music therapists, arts administrators, in music finance and business, and other areas to create a custom career that suits their areas of interest and individual strengths.
In addition to her schedule of performances, she regularly gives clinics and masterclasses at colleges and universities throughout the United States, Dr. Davis is an active university professor with teaching clarinet at McLennan College, Texas A&M - Commerce, North Central Texas College, Dallas College, and Laredo College while teaching as a Clarinet Specialist in select and competitive Texas school programs.
Dr. Davis is an active member of the clarinet and music community and their organizations. She is Chair of the International Clarinet Association College and Pre-Professional Engagement Committee and contributes to the journal of the same organization, The Clarinet as an Audio and Book Review Writer. She has contributed to both the National Association of College Wind and Percussion Instructors Journal, the Symposium Journal, and The Instrumentalist, and is currently working on a book.
Dr. Davis is a Buffet Crampon Performing Artist and a D’Addario Woodwind Artist. She holds a Doctorate in Clarinet Performance from the University of North Texas where she studied with Kimberly Cole Luevano. She has studied with Richard MacDowell, Elizabeth Gunlogson, and David Seiler.