Orbert Davis

ORBERT DAVIS (Original Music Composer) is an Emmy Award-winning trumpeter, composer and educator, and the co-founder, conductor and artistic director of Chicago Jazz Philharmonic (CJP), a 55+ piece symphonic jazz orchestra dedicated to bringing together audiences of diverse backgrounds through multi-genre projects. Over the past 30 years, his mission- driven career has made him a true leader in Chicago’s arts and culture community—widely respected in not only all things jazz, but also for the distinctive ability to use his musical talents to make positive impacts on society. Orbert has many composer commissions to his credit and has played key roles in major film and television projects, including working as a jazz consultant for Road to Perdition. Recent projects include “Home and Away,” a Boeing-commissioned project to honor U.S. men and women in uniform, and an original score for the PBS documentary “DuSable to Obama: Chicago’s Black Metropolis,” for which he received an Emmy Award. Most recently, he premiered “Soul Migration” at the 2016 Chicago Jazz Festival. His CD recordings include “Blue Notes,” “Priority” (named Top 10 Best Jazz CDs of 2002 by the Chicago Tribune), biographies continued 6 program and Chicago Jazz Philharmonic’s “Collective Creativity” and “Havana Blue.” He is host of “The Real Deal with Orbert Davis,” a weekly 3-hour program airing on 90.9fm WDCB and streamed online via wdcb.org. He has a Bachelor’s degree in Trumpet Performance from DePaul University, a Master’s degree in Jazz Pedagogy from Northwestern University, and an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from Governors State University. He is a former associate professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago and artist-in-residence at Columbia College Chicago. Visit orbertdavis.com.