Mike Davies – Elementary Music Specialist, Band Teacher, and Percussionist
MA. Ed. Curriculum and Instruction, Weber State University, 2006.
B.A. Music, Weber State University, 1992.
I am a native of Colorado having been born in Denver and raised in Grand Junction. However for most of my adult life, I have lived in Utah, including the Ogden area. Now, I am enjoying life in North Salt Lake with my lovely wife Theresa and 3 “step-cats”. I have a son, a daughter, a stepson, stepdaughter (and son in-law), grandkids and a very large extended family.
I enjoy many things such as, podcasts, audiobooks, photography, golf, sports (go Utah Jazz and Denver Broncos), movies, theater (especially the Hale Center Theatre), concerts, museums, reading, tech stuff, eating, listening to and playing music. I play as a percussionist with New American Philharmonic Orchestra, in Layton, Utah.
My interest in music was fueled by the influence of my junior high and high school music teachers. Music has given me some tremendous opportunities. I attended school in Grand Junction Colorado. At Grand Junction High School, I received the Louis Armstrong Jazz award and part scholarship offers to Western State College and Adams State College after graduating in 1983. I attended Western State College of Colorado, University of Northern Colorado. While at UNC, I was recruited to play on the drum-line with the Denver Blue Knights Drum and Bugle Corp which turned out to be one of my all time favorite musical experiences ever. When I came to Utah, I was blessed with a full tuition scholarship to study percussion with Dr. Don Keipp (another great mentor) at Weber State University in 1988. One of my collegiate highlights at Weber State University includes being a proud winner in the Concerto competition and performed as a soloist with the WSU philharmonic orchestra.
I started teaching in Salt Lake City School District in 1993 at Hawthorne and Lincoln Elementary schools in the Salt Lake City, Utah. I have taught at Backman, Beacon Heights, Lincoln, Meadowlark, Uinta, Emerson, Washington and currently assigned to a collaborative team with Blair Lyon and Nita Sorensen teaching at Escalante, Franklin, Hawthorne, Newman, and North Star Elementary schools. I teach general music, beginning orchestra and beginning band instruction in an itinerant format. I currently hold a Utah k-12 music teaching endorsement and an endorsement in instructional technology.
Music has given me many opportunities. I have performed with a variety of music groups ranging from accompanying the Mormon Tabernacle Choir as a member of WSU philharmonic orchestra to playing in a polka band for the German Ambassador during the 2001 Salt Lake Olympics. I have played in groups for governors, senators, President George H. Bush and a few other celebrities. I have marched in performances from coast to coast all over the United States. It is my hope that I can inspire some of my students enough to take advantage of the opportunities that a musical talent can give.
MA. Ed. Curriculum and Instruction, Weber State University, 2006.
B.A. Music, Weber State University, 1992.
I am a native of Colorado having been born in Denver and raised in Grand Junction. However for most of my adult life, I have lived in Utah, including the Ogden area. Now, I am enjoying life in North Salt Lake with my lovely wife Theresa and 3 “step-cats”. I have a son, a daughter, a stepson, stepdaughter (and son in-law), grandkids and a very large extended family.
I enjoy many things such as, podcasts, audiobooks, photography, golf, sports (go Utah Jazz and Denver Broncos), movies, theater (especially the Hale Center Theatre), concerts, museums, reading, tech stuff, eating, listening to and playing music. I play as a percussionist with New American Philharmonic Orchestra, in Layton, Utah.
My interest in music was fueled by the influence of my junior high and high school music teachers. Music has given me some tremendous opportunities. I attended school in Grand Junction Colorado. At Grand Junction High School, I received the Louis Armstrong Jazz award and part scholarship offers to Western State College and Adams State College after graduating in 1983. I attended Western State College of Colorado, University of Northern Colorado. While at UNC, I was recruited to play on the drum-line with the Denver Blue Knights Drum and Bugle Corp which turned out to be one of my all time favorite musical experiences ever. When I came to Utah, I was blessed with a full tuition scholarship to study percussion with Dr. Don Keipp (another great mentor) at Weber State University in 1988. One of my collegiate highlights at Weber State University includes being a proud winner in the Concerto competition and performed as a soloist with the WSU philharmonic orchestra.
I started teaching in Salt Lake City School District in 1993 at Hawthorne and Lincoln Elementary schools in the Salt Lake City, Utah. I have taught at Backman, Beacon Heights, Lincoln, Meadowlark, Uinta, Emerson, Washington and currently assigned to a collaborative team with Blair Lyon and Nita Sorensen teaching at Escalante, Franklin, Hawthorne, Newman, and North Star Elementary schools. I teach general music, beginning orchestra and beginning band instruction in an itinerant format. I currently hold a Utah k-12 music teaching endorsement and an endorsement in instructional technology.
Music has given me many opportunities. I have performed with a variety of music groups ranging from accompanying the Mormon Tabernacle Choir as a member of WSU philharmonic orchestra to playing in a polka band for the German Ambassador during the 2001 Salt Lake Olympics. I have played in groups for governors, senators, President George H. Bush and a few other celebrities. I have marched in performances from coast to coast all over the United States. It is my hope that I can inspire some of my students enough to take advantage of the opportunities that a musical talent can give.