Michael Daugherty is one of the most performed and commissioned American composers of concert music of his generation. He came to international attention in 1995
when his Metropolis Symphony (1988-93), a tribute to the Superman comics, was performed in New York at Carnegie Hall by the conductor David Zinman and the Baltimore
Symphony Orchestra. Recent orchestral works include MotorCity Triptych (2000), Raise the Roof (2003) and a violin concerto Fire and Blood (2002), all commissioned
by the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. Hell¹s Angels (1999) for bassoon quartet and orchestra was commissioned by the Philharmonia Orchestra (London). The English
horn concerto Spaghetti Western (1998) and Time Machine (2003) for three conductors and orchestra were commissioned by the Pittsburgh Symphony. His opera Jackie O
(1997), commissioned by the Houston Grand Opera, has been produced in America, Canada, France, and Sweden. Daugherty has also composed important works for wind
ensemble such as Desi (1991), Bizarro (1993), Motown Metal (1994), and Niagara Falls (1997).
Born in 1954 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Daugherty is the son of a dance-band drummer and the oldest of five brothers, all professional musicians. At the age of ten he began to play the piano, Hammond organ and synthesizers in rock and jazz ensembles. He studied music composition at North Texas State University (1972-76), and computer music in Paris at Boulezs IRCAM (1979-80). Daugherty received his doctorate in composition in 1986 from Yale University, where his teachers included Jacob Druckman, Roger Reynolds, and Earle Brown. During this time he also collaborated with jazz arranger Gil Evans in New York and was a composition fellow at Tanglewood. He pursued further studies with composer Gyorgy Ligeti in Hamburg, Germany (1982-84). After teaching music composition for several years at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music in Ohio, he joined the music composition faculty at the University of Michigan (Ann Arbor) in 1991, where he is Professor of Composition. Daugherty has received numerous awards for his music including the Stoeger Prize from the Lincoln Center Chamber Music Society, recognition from the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters, and fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, Fulbright and Guggenheim Foundations. He was composer-in-residence with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra (1999-2003) and the Colorado Symphony Orchestra (2001-2003).
