Biographies

Dr. John A. Davis, Jr.
Organist and Choirmaster

John A. Davis, Jr. has been organist and choirmaster of The Reformed Church of Poughkeepsie since January 1986. He is a native of upstate Pulaski, in the Lake Ontario "snowbelt" Having studied piano and organ in his hometown, he attended Westminster Choir College in Princeton, New Jersey. Leaving college in the middle of his junior year, he trained and served as a pilot in the U.S. Army Air Corps, flying missions from bases in France.

Following military service, "Jack" returned to college, having married a young woman he had met when she was a freshman, and he was a junior. Because of his service in the Air Corps, she was now a senior and would graduate one year ahead of him! Dr. Davis and his late wife DorothyAnn were married for 57 ½ years, and she was active in the Reformed Church's congregation and choir after retiring as head of the music department at Marist College. But we're getting ahead of the story...

While a student, Jack served as director of music at the New Utrecht Reformed Church in Brooklyn, returning from the Air Corps to college, and a position as organist and director at St. Peter's Lutheran Church of Manhattan. He has a Bachelor of Music degree from Westminster, a Master of Arts from Boston University and an honorary Doctor of Music degree from his alma mater. He taught for twenty-four years as an adjunct professor of music and humanities at Ladycliff College, during his years at West Point.

[Dr. John A. Davis, Jr.]
Dr. John A. Davis, Jr.

The Davises worked as a team at the First Presbyterian Church in Passaic, New Jersey for 2 ½ years, while DorothyAnn was completing graduate work and Jack was teaching organ at Westminster. They then went to the 3000 member First (Park) Congregational Church of Grand Rapids, Michigan for more than five years. They moved to West Point when Jack was selected as the 2nd ever organist and choirmaster of the Cadet Chapel at the U.S. Military Academy, a position which he held for 30 years.

Jack has concertized in many parts of the United States, as well as in Germany, including 7 or 8 recitals in Berlin, and he directed the Cadet Choir in many appearances in the Washington Cathedral, St. Thomas Church of New York City, the Crystal Cathedral in California, and on television. For 9 years he directed an annual workshop for Chapel musicians of the Armed Forces, held in Berchtesgaden, Germany, and he has often served as an oratorio accompanist.

In 1992, Jack took a six month leave of absence from The Reformed Church to act as interim senior organist and assistant director of music of the Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, and returned on a number of occasions to "fill in" on the staff there.

Jack has a daughter, two sons, two grandsons, and a great-grandson.