ABOUT
Award-winning American violinist, film composer and arranger, Calyssa Davidson, is a versatile artist whose wide range of interests has led her to perform throughout the world with major orchestras and bands, in musicals, and in solo recordings for several feature and independent films as well as television including the BBC.
A winner of the Leni Fe Bland Award, Davidson made her orchestral debut at the age of 13 performing Wieniawski’s Legende, Op. 17. She has since performed with renowned orchestras throughout Europe and America. Most recently, Davidson can be heard on the Harry & Meghan: A Royal Romance soundtrack from the LIFETIME original movie with the same title. She has also recorded the solo violin score for the BBC TWO documentary series The Story of China and wrote and recorded the solo violin scores for the BBC TWO documentary Normandy ’44: The Battle Beyond D-Day and BBC FOUR documentary Shakespeare’s Mother: The Secret Life of a Tudor Woman.
She has performed alongside rock star Rick Springfield during a sold out concert at the Verizon Arena in Little Rock, Arkansas for the NBC TV Network Christmas Special. The show then aired on NBC nationwide and was rebroadcast on five other major networks in the US. She can also be seen in Springfield’s music video, Christmas With You.
Over the years, Davidson has pursued a varied career ranging from classical orchestral playing to pop, country, bluegrass and hip hop, and has played solo violin in numerous musicals in London including Violet in the West End at the Charing Cross Theatre and the award-winning Pippin at the Southwark Playhouse. She has performed in venues such as the Royal Albert Hall, Royal Festival Hall, Cadogan Hall, Wigmore Hall and has led recording sessions at Abbey Road, Air Edel, and Angel Studios. She has toured with several indie/rock bands and independent artists and has performed at numerous festivals in the US and the UK. She is currently a member of The Hedone String Quartet represented by Twisted Noise Troupe and can also be seen as co-leader of the Orion Orchestra.
Davidson studied at the Colburn School of Performing Arts with Dr. Chan Ho Yun and was a member of the Santa Barbara Youth Symphony for seven years, serving as Associate Concertmaster for two and Concertmaster during the last three years. Beginning in 2002, she spent three successive summers as a participant in the Music Academy of the West’s MERIT Program returning to the Academy in 2010 and 2011 as a Fellow on a full scholarship to study with famed violinist, Zvi Zeitlin.
She has earned her Bachelor of Music Degree in Violin Performance from the Royal College of Music in London, UK as well as a Master's Degree in both Violin Performance and Composition for Screen where she was supported by an Alice Templeton Scholarship and a Robert McFadzean Whyte Award Scholarship. Whilst at the RCM, Davidson studied with former Associate Leader of the Philharmonia Orchestra and former Co Leader of the Academy of St Martin in the Fields, Adrian Levine, and film and television composers Maurizio Malagnini (Call the Midwife, The Paradise) and Howard Davidson (Death Games, The Battle for Malta). Amongst others, Davidson has also studied with world-renowned violinists, Ivry Gitlis, Gilles Apap, Martin Chalifour and Cynthia Fleming.