Composer Michael Daugherty is Husa Visiting Professor

Michael Daugherty, composer in residence with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and professor of composition at the University of Michigan, will be the focus of three events in October as the School of Music’s 2000–2001 Karel Husa Visiting Professor of Composition. At 8:15 p.m. Sunday, October 15, Daugherty will give a lecture on his music and career in the recital hall of the James J. Whalen Center for Music. The following day he will deliver a pre-concert lecture in the Iger Lecture Hall at 7:30 p.m. The wind ensemble and symphonic band, along with other ensembles, will then perform a selection of Daugherty’s work at 8:15 p.m. in Ford Hall. All events are free and open to the public.

"Michael Daugherty is engrossed with American popular culture, and his music is full of references, humor, and wry commentary," says Dana Wilson, the Charles A. Dana Professor of Music. "At the same time, he is a fine craftsman, and his music is fresh, compelling, and satisfying for all kinds of listeners."

The program for the October 16 performance reflects Daugherty’s interest in American icons. Jackie’s Song, for example, was inspired by Jackie Kennedy Onassis and features cellist Elizabeth Simkin. Desi, which will be performed by the symphonic band, is a Latin big band tribute to Desi Arnaz. Red Cape Tango, performed by the wind ensemble, pays homage to Superman. Also on the program are Dead Elvis, featuring bassoonist Lee Goodhew; Sing Sing: J. Edgar Hoover, a work written for string quartet; and Motown Metal, which will be performed by the brass choir.

The son of a dance band drummer, Daugherty is the oldest of five brothers, all of whom are professional musicians. He grew up in Iowa playing keyboards in jazz, rock, and funk bands before attending North Texas State University and the Manhattan School of Music. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Daugherty divided his time between Europe and the United States, composing computer music at the Institut de Recherche et Coordination Acoustique/Musique in Paris as a Fulbright fellow and then spending two years in Hamburg studying with György Ligeti. He performed live synthesizer concerts of his own music accompanying screenings of classic silent films and collaborated with jazz arranger Gil Evans in New York. He completed a doctorate in composition at Yale University in 1986.

Daugherty came to national recognition in 1989 when he won the Kennedy Center Friedheim Award for Snap!–Blue like an Orange, a two-part composition for large ensemble. That work pioneered a style, combining rigorous polyrhythmic counterpoint with the playful and pointed use of the popular music of his youth, that he has used ever since.

Daugherty’s music has been performed by prominent orchestras in the United States, including the Los Angeles and New York Philharmonics, and the symphony orchestras of Atlanta, Baltimore, Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit, San Francisco, and St. Louis. Performances abroad include those by the Melbourne Symphony, BBC Symphony, London Philharmonia, Tonhalle Orchester Zürich, Ensemble Intercontemporaine, London Sinfonietta, and Netherlands Wind Ensemble.

Daugherty has received numerous awards, including recognition from the American Academy of Arts and Letters and fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts.

The Husa visiting professorship was created 13 years ago to honor former longtime faculty member and Pulitzer Prize–winning composer Karel Husa. Past Husa visiting professors have included Samuel Adler, John Corigliano, George Crumb, Libby Larson, and John Harbison.

For more information regarding the concert schedule at Ithaca College, visit the School of Music calendar pages.