Born in Ashridge, Hertfordshire to Robert J. Davis and his wife Florence Joyce (née Badminton), Davis grew up in Chesham, Buckinghamshire, and in Watford.[2] Davis attended Watford Boys' Grammar School, where he studied classics in his sixth form years. His adolescent musical work included playing the organ at the Palace Theatre, Watford.[2] Davis studied at the Royal Academy of Music and King's College, Cambridge where he was an organ scholar, graduating in 1967. He later studied conducting in Rome with Franco Ferrara.