Born to music educators in Atlanta, GA, Donna Davidson began playing classical percussion and piano at 9-years old. Her work spans orchestral percussion, jazz vibraphone, seven years of teaching music in non-profit organizations and writing for the American Composers Forum, New York Times music, and Early Music America Magazine. She is a 2022 Rubin Institute for Music Criticism fellow and currently a student at Columbia University pursuing an MFA in Nonfiction Writing.

Donna began teaching music in New York Public Schools as an undergraduate at the Manhattan School of Music with their Arts-In-Education Outreach Program. She then did workshops and clinics for Atlanta Public Schools and the El Sistema nonprofit organization AMPlify followed by Play On, Philly in Philadelphia, PA. Donna writes on topics of diversity and inclusion in classical music and her experiences performing in a white, male-dominated field.

A graduate of Atlanta Symphony Orchestra’s Talent Development Program, Donna was the winner of the Interlochen Center for the Arts international concerto competition before making her solo debut with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Robert Spano at the age of 16. Her performing career includes numerous performances at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts and Carnegie Hall, solo and section performances with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Atlanta Wind Symphony, and the National Black Arts Festival. She served as timpanist with Opera Noire of New York and as a section percussionist of the Philadelphia Wind Symphony.

Donna began her studies with Thomas Sherwood, percussionist with the Cleveland Orchestra, and Bill Wilder, assistant timpanist of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. While attending the Manhattan School of Music in New York City, she studied with Chris Lamb, principal percussionist of the New York Philharmonic, and Duncan Patton, former principal timpanist of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra. Donna then attended Spelman College, an HBCU in Atlanta, GA, where she studied jazz theory under saxophonist Joseph Jennings before touring the east coast on jazz vibraphone for five years.