Taylor Scott Davis, the creative director of traditional music and worship at St. Andrew Methodist Church, is gearing up for the annual St. Andrew Christmas Festival featuring five of his Christmas carol arrangements newly released by the Decca Classics record label in A Choral Christmas.
Davis comes to St. Andrew with decades of love for music. His father directs the music program at St. Luke’s in Houston, providing him with a look into the musical world at a young age. Davis went on to perform and compose music around the world.
“I write because I have to (getting music out of my head isn’t optional), but I work at St. Andrew because I want to,” said Davis. “Working with all of the amazing volunteers who bring music to life every Sunday, and creating avenues for them to do things greater than what they thought was possible is why I do what I do.”
Now, Davis has been the creative director of traditional music and worship at St. Andrew for the past nine years. He began working on the pieces in A Choral Christmas in September 2021 when Grammy-nominated British vocal ensemble VOCES8 asked if he could arrange carols for choir and orchestra for an upcoming holiday broadcast. A Choral Christmas includes a five-movement centerpiece, Magnificat, which was also written by Davis and will receive its Carnegie Hall debut in New York in May 2024.
“I had to have all parts and scores to [VOCES8’s Barney and Paul Smith] by the first of November, so I essentially had to write a carol arrangement per week,” said Davis. “I flew over, still masking and having to test before and after the journey since we were still in the grips of COVID, and we recorded these new carols. The broadcast was a hit, and the reviews were glowing. A year later, the Decca Classics record label (Bing Crosby, Ella Fitzgerald, Pavarotti, to name a few of their artists) wanted to create a Christmas album, and five of the six carols, plus my Magnificat (previously recorded by VOCES8), would be the main tracks. The album was released Nov. 3, 2023, and just recently received five stars from BBC Music Magazine. This is, without question, a high-water mark of my career.”
The community is invited to hear the first live performance of Davis’ carol arrangements on December 10 at the St. Andrew Christmas Festival, 5801 W. Plano Parkway, Plano, Texas. There is no cost for this event. Visit standrewmethodist.org/Christmas for more details.
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