Awards
Davis was appointed CBE in 1965, knighted in 1980 and appointed Companion of Honour in 2001. He was awarded the Royal Philharmonic Society's gold medal in 1995, the Queen's Medal for Music, 2009, and has numerous international awards, including Commendatore of the Republic of Italy, 1976; Commander's Cross, Order of Merit (Germany), 1987; Commandeur, l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (France), 1990; Commander, Order of the Lion (Finland), 1992; Order of Merit (Bavaria), 1993; Officier, Légion d'honneur (France), 1999 (Chevalier, 1982); Order of Maximilian (Bavaria), 2000.
In 2002, Davis was invited to serve as the first Mentor in Music in the inaugural cycle of the Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative, an international philanthropic programme that pairs masters in their disciplines with emerging talents for a year of one-to-one creative exchange. Out of a very gifted field of candidates, Davis chose young Spanish conductor Josep Caballé Domenech as his protégé. Other music mentors for the initiative include Jessye Norman (2004), Pinchas Zukerman (2006), Youssou N'Dour (2008), Brian Eno (2010) and Gilberto Gil (2012).
Other awards include Pipe Smoker of the Year in 1996, Male Artist of the Year in the Classical Brit Awards 2008, and the Grammy Award in 2006 for Best Opera for his LSO Live recording of Verdi's Falstaff.
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