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"This is a real Symphonie Fantastique for our times… rhythms overlap, collide, and reinvent themselves as sound appears to travel across the stage at the speed of light… Daugherty's maverick imagination, fearless structural sense and meticulous ear made powerfully economic use of a vast orchestra."
-- Hillary Finch, [London] Times, on Metropolis Symphony
"In the manner of Charles Ives, we hear a lot of things all at once… This is clever, complicated music… It suggests a generous spirit that embraces just about everything there is in life…"
-- Michael Anthony, Minneapolis Star Tribune, on Sunset Strip
"The concert's real dazzler of a barbaric yawp was American composer Michael Daugherty's UFO, in a version for solo percussion and symphonic band."
-- Scott Cantrell, The Dallas Morning News
- Nov. 2008 - Metropolis Symphony performed and recorded for Naxos by the Nashville Symphony, Giancarlo Guerrero conducting.
- Dec. 14 - Red Cape Tango for symphonic band performed by New England Conservatory
- Feb. 13, 14, 15, 2009 - Desi performed by Baltimore Symphony, with dancing by Savion Glover.
- March and May - Eight performances of Motown Metal by the Phoenix Symphony
Michael Daugherty is one of the most performed and commissioned American composers of his generation. He has created a niche in the music world that is uniquely his own, composing concert music inspired by contemporary American popular culture. Daugherty came to international attention when his Metropolis Symphony (1988-93), a tribute to the Superman comics, was performed in 1995 at Carnegie Hall by conductor David Zinman and the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, and subsequently recorded for Argo/Decca. Other large orchestral works include UFO (1999), a percussion concerto commissioned and premiered by Evelyn Glennie and the National Symphony Orchestra conducted by Leonard Slatkin. The Detroit Symphony also commissioned and premiered Daugherty’s second symphony, MotorCity Triptych (2000). His third symphony, Philadelphia Stories (2001), was commissioned and premiered by the Philadelphia Orchestra conducted by David Zinman.
Daugherty’s chamber music is widely performed as well, and has been recorded for Argo/Decca on the CD American Icons. His string quartets include Sing Sing: J.Edgar Hoover (1992 ) and Elvis Everywhere (1993), both performed on world tours and recorded on Nonesuch by the Kronos Quartet. His opera Jackie O (1997) has been produced in the United States, Canada, France, and Sweden and recorded by Argo/Decca. Daugherty has also composed numerous works for symphonic wind ensemble and band, recorded by Klavier on a disk entitled UFO: The Music of Michael Daugherty .
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. He studied music composition at North Texas State University (1972-76) and Manhattan School of Music (1976-78), and computer music at Pierre Boulez’s IRCAM in Paris (1979-80). Daugherty received his doctorate in composition from Yale University in 1986. During this time he also collaborated with jazz arranger Gil Evans in New York, and pursued further studies with composer György Ligeti in Hamburg, Germany (1982-84). After teaching music composition 1986-1991 at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, Daugherty joined the School of Music at the University of Michigan (Ann Arbor) in 1991, where he is currently Professor of Composition. He was composer-in-residence with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra (1999-2003) and with the Colorado Symphony Orchestra (2001-2003).
Daugherty has received numerous awards for his music, including the Stoeger Prize from the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, recognition from the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters, and fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation and National Endowment for the Arts.