Aragon music director Troy Davis has a unique element to his office; right by the door, there is a hat rack holding 13 hats. Some hats are red, some are blue, some big and some small, but Davis wears his many hats literally and figuratively.
Though commonly known for his perpetually bubbly personality, Davis is also a multi-instrumentalist, the summer director of the Oakland Municipal Band, one-time composer and freelance musician. Currently, Davis teaches five of the ten performance music classes.
Starting his teaching career at St. Timothy’s Catholic School in 1997, he has since taught at The Drew School in San Francisco and Parkway Heights Middle School in South San Francisco before coming to Aragon in 2005. Under his guidance, the Aragon music program has expanded from 250 students a year to roughly 400 in the span of nine years.
Davis explains, “We’ve added a second jazz band, a second orchestra, the men’s choir, and within the program, we’ve been able to offer a lot more to the students and for the community.”
Looking toward the future, Davis aims to expand the “depth” of the music department, noting that Aragon’s music program offers depth in a multitude of forms from teaching a large variety of music to having guest artists, clinics and collaborations with other schools.
One of Davis’s career highlights was the 2008 tour of China, with 120 students playing on the Great Wall of China. His philosophy is that, when his music students finish high school, they are prepared to do whatever they want with their music, whether or not that be continuing to study performing arts in college.
His main instrument is the oboe, but he considers himself proficient in all wind instruments. In addition to pieces he written that he has not shared, he explains, he has composed theme music for a halloween-themed website, but quickly asserts that he is not a composer. Davis’s main gig is at an opera company, but he is a freelance musician and generally performs during nights and weekends.
Additionally, he will be starting as the Director of Wind Ensemble at San Francisco State University, where he will also teach conducting. Davis states that, because the classes he will teach are in the evenings, this will not interfere with his teaching at Aragon. He has worked with notable people such as Michael Tilson Thomas, The Drifters, and Robin Williams.
Davis is currently getting his doctorate in music education at Boston University, which he says should take between two and three years. He concludes, “I love what I’m doing so it’s not like I’m trying to leave, but eventually, I want to teach at a university and teach the students who want to teach. And teach the future band and orchestra directors and get music education at that level. At some point, that’ll happen, or it may not. I’d be happy with staying here too.”
