BY MARY ELLE HUNTER

Special to The Pilot

Jesse Davis, a renowned pianist and North Carolina native who is the music director at the First Baptist Church in Pinehurst, will appear in concert at the church Sunday, Oct. 14, at 4 p.m.

Performing with major orchestras and in recitals both in the United States and Europe, Davis has traveled to the Ukraine, to Russia and Germany, where he was a soloist with the Kiev Symphony and Berlin Youth Symphony, among others, and closer to home with the Raleigh Symphony and Fayetteville Symphony.

A winner of numerous piano competitions including those held at the Vienna International Pianists Academy, the AJ Fletcher Competition at the North Carolina School of the Arts, the New Orleans International Piano Competition, and the First International Piano Competition in Sant'Agata Li Battiati, Italy, Davis' early teachers were Dr. Charles Bath, of East Carolina University, Daniel and Jayne Ericourt, of Greensboro, and Edith Bond, of Washington, N.C. He also studied privately for several years with Maestro Fabio Bidiini and earned degrees from Baylor University and the North Carolina School of the Arts.

Presently Jesse Davis is passing on his considerable talents to tomorrow's performers by teaching at Fayetteville State University and at Methodist University, where he is the artistic director and founder of the Fayetteville Piano Festival, held each year in January.

He also gives an annual master class near Catania, Sicily for young Italian artists in the region of Mount Etna on invitation of Maestro Epifanio Comis of the Bellini Conservatory.

Ann Register, a member of Pinehurst's First Baptist Church, says, "With the impressive and international background Jesse Davis has, we are extremely blessed to have him as our director of music. He gives us a special gift by bringing his remarkable talents to our church."

Jesse Davis has chosen a varied program to perform on Sunday afternoon, consisting of several works by Chopin, the Brahms Paganini Variations and Beethoven's Concerto No. 4. Davis' wife, Leslie, who is also an accomplished pianist, will join him on the Beethoven concerto, playing the second piano.

The program will contain selections from "The Phantom of the Opera" as well. And Davis will perform a number of his own arrangements of sacred hymns.

"The concert is a musical gift to the community from the members of the church, which is located on N.C. 211, and an invitation is offered to all to come and enjoy this special presentation," says a church spokesman.

Contact freelance writer Mary Elle Hunter at mehunter105@hotmail.com.