About Davis
Davis Reinhart is a composer, pianist, trumpet player, and music educator based in Los Angeles, CA. He is a recent graduate of the University of Michigan School of Music, Theater and Dance, with a degree in music composition and minor in performing arts management and entrepreneurship. He is the President and Co-Founder of the nonprofit organization, Muffin Music Inc..
Growing up in Buellton and Santa Ynez Valley, California, Davis was drawn towards all facets of the performing arts, including both theater and dance. While attending Santa Ynez Valley High School, he was a member of the Santa Ynez Valley Jazz Band, Santa Barbara Strings, SYVHS Theater Group, SYVHS Jazz Club, and Fossemalle Dance Studios.
During those formative years in high school, he spent a summer as a collaborative piano student at Music Academy of the West's MERIT Program where he first met some of his current friends and musical collaborators. By 2019, he began to focus his attention on composition, attending the Brevard Music Center's summer music festival in North Carolina, where he studied with Greg Simon, Robert Aldridge, and David Dzubay.
Following high school, Davis spent four years attending the University of Michigan where he had the opportunity to work on a wide array of compositional, performance, educational, and administrative projects. Most notably, in 2021, Davis was commissioned to write, record, and produce an original composition for the City of Buellton, thanks to a generous grant provided by the Buellton Arts and Culture Committee and the Buellton City Council. This sparked the beginning of a new project and chapter, focused on giving back to the Santa Ynez Valley community where he grew up and ultimately led to the formation of the nonprofit organization, Muffin Music Inc., which was incorporated in 2022.
Composition
Davis enjoys writing for a wide array of compositional mediums, including video games, film, dance, theater, as well as writing for orchestras, chamber ensembles and big band. Having grown up playing piano and trumpet in classical, jazz, funk, soul, and church music contexts, he's not one to shy away from crossing genres with one another. Some of Davis's collaborations includes writing for the professional contemporary music ensemble, Alarm Will Sound, members of the Santa Maria Philharmonic, the Brevard Music Center Orchestra, University of Michigan Jazz Ensemble, and Brain Pocket Trio. In June 2024, Davis spent two weeks studying composition at New Music on the Point, a premier contemporary classical composition program in Burlington VT.
Davis's principle composition teachers have included Kristin Kuster, Erik Santos, Evan Chambers, Michael Daugherty, Ellen Rowe, and he currently works with Trey Makler.
Film
Davis has always had a passion for film and television and began his journey as a film composer in 2021, while working with Director Justin Rubin on his award winning psychological thriller, Trailhead. Since then, Davis has collaborated with Peter Sinclair, filmmaker for Yale Climate Connections, and with Lauren Thorburn on her senior thesis film A Wild Life.
Performer
Davis is both an active pianist and trumpet player. He performs regularly for Shepherd of the Valley Lutheran Church and as a musician for Muffin Music. While at the University of Michigan, he was chosen to be a part of the Michigan Recording Project, aimed at documenting rarely performed classical piano music. He was also a member of the trumpet sections of both the University of Michigan Jazz Lab Band, and University of Michigan Jazz Ensemble.
Davis studied piano with Matthew Bengtson, and trumpet with Bill Lucas and Kris Johnson.
Educator
After founding Muffin Music, Davis became more involved in music education. He works annually as the Director for Muffin Music's M2 summer youth music program, and visits public schools throughout Santa Barbara County leading workshops.
While at the University of Michigan, he worked as a teaching artist for the Office of Engagement and Outreach, teaching music and piano to students living in low income households across the Ann Arbor and Detroit areas. In California, Davis is a teaching artist for Children's Creative Project, a Santa Barbara based nonprofit that provides supplemental music in public and private schools.
Davis is currently on faculty of the Arabesque Conservatory, a private music school in Los Angeles, offering lessons for piano, trumpet, composition, and music therapy.