LATEST NEWS
WORLD PREMIERE of The Hallucinogenic Toreador for orchestra (2026)
Inspired by the art and life of the Spanish Painter Salvador Dalí
World Premiere: Ocala Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Matthew Wardell, at the Reilly Arts Center in Ocala, Florida, on October 24, 2026.
Ocala Symphony Orchestra
Pictures at an Exhibition: From Dalí to Mussorgky
October 24 & 25, 2026
Reilly Arts Center, Ocala, FL
Matthew Wardell, conductor
details & tickets
WORLD PREMIERE OF DANCING IN THE STREETS for orchestra (2026)
In celebration of America’s 250th anniversary and the 100th anniversary of the Martha Graham Dance Company
Pittsburg Symphony Orchestra: Appalachian Spring
June 19-21, 2026
Heinz Hall, Pittsburgh, PA
Manfred Honeck, conductor
Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre
MICHAEL DAUGHERTY Dancing in the Streets
[WORLD PREMIERE & PSO COMMISSION]
- “Got to Dance!” (Ode to Gene Kelly)
- “Martha’s Maze” (Ode to Martha Graham)
- “Dance a Little Longer” (Ode to Woody and Marjorie Guthrie)
PANHANDLE PBS DOCUMENTARY: Cadillac Ranch: 10 Cadillacs, 10 Movements, 1 Stunning Performance
WORLD PREMIERE OF MICHAEL DAUGHERTY’S VAN VECHTEN VARIATIONS for solo piano (2025)
Inspired by the photographs of Carl Van Vechten
Commissioned by the Walter W. Naumburg Foundation
Jack Gao, piano
Winner of the Naumburg International Piano Competition (2023) and Martha Argerich Piano Award (2025)
Monday, September 29, 2025 at 7:30 PM
Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall
Van Vechten Variations is inspired by the photographs of Carl Van Vechten (1880-1964), who created striking portraits of influential artists and performers of the early 20th century. | read program note
BIOGRAPHY
GRAMMY Award-winning composer Michael Daugherty first came to international attention when his Metropolis Symphony was performed by the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, conducted by David Zinman, at Carnegie Hall in 1994 and subsequently recorded by Decca/Argo. Since then, Daugherty’s music has entered orchestral, band and chamber music repertoire and made him, according to the League of American Orchestras, one of the ten most-performed American composers of concert music today. His music has received six GRAMMY Awards, including Best Contemporary Classical Composition in 2010 for Deus ex Machina for piano and orchestra and in 2016 for Tales of Hemingway for cello and orchestra.
Born in 1954 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Daugherty is the oldest of five brothers, all professional musicians. They grew up in a musical household, with a father who played the drums in dance bands and a mother who sang in musical theater productions. As a young man, Daugherty studied composition with many of the preeminent composers of the 20th century including Jacob Druckman, Earle Brown, Bernard Rands and Roger Reynolds at Yale University (1980-82), Betsy Jolas at the Paris Conservatory and Pierre Boulez at IRCAM in Paris (1979-80), and György Ligeti in Hamburg (1982-84). From 1980-82, Daugherty was also an assistant to jazz arranger Gil Evans in New York.
After teaching from 1986 to 1991 at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music in Oberlin, Ohio, Daugherty became Professor of Composition at the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre and Dance in Ann Arbor, Michigan, where he is a mentor to many of today’s most talented young composers. Daugherty is also a frequent guest of professional orchestras, festivals, universities and conservatories around the world. Daugherty’s music is published by Peermusic Classical/Faber Music, Boosey & Hawkes and since 2010 by Michael Daugherty Music.
NAXOS RELEASES MICHAEL DAUGHERTY’S THIS LAND SINGS: INSPIRED BY THE LIFE AND TIMES OF WOODY GUTHRIE
World-premiere recording features performances by the Albany Symphony’s Dogs of Desire ensemble led by David Alan Miller, and vocal soloists Annika Socolofsky and John Daugherty
“During these times of turbulence and uncertainty, I think back to the songwriter and political activist Woody Guthrie, who traveled across America with his guitar and harmonica to perform songs of hope and social justice during the Great Depression and World War II. As a musical tribute to this Dust Bowl troubadour, I have composed This Land Sings: Inspired by the Life and Times of Woody Guthrie, a song cycle with 17 original vocal and instrumental numbers, like a Grand Ole Opry radio broadcast. It is my hope that this Naxos recording, featuring the Albany Symphony’s new music ensemble Dogs of Desire, will remind us that music can spark greater awareness and bring about meaningful change.”
–Michael Daugherty
Daugherty: This Land Sings review – exuberant polyglot Woody Guthrie celebration, The Guardian
Michael Daugherty: This Land Sings, BBC Music Magazine
Michael Daugherty: This Land Sings (Inspired by the life and times of Woody Guthrie) – Annika Socolofsky; John Daugherty; Dogs of Desire; David Alan Miller, The Whole Note
AllMusic Review of Michael Daugherty: This Land Sings
Explore Classical Music article on This Land Sings
Classical Notes: New releases from Daugherty, Tann, Times Union (Albany)
Michael Daugherty: This Land Sings, Glarean Magazine (German)
RECENT RECORDINGS
Michael Daugherty: Blue Electra; Last Dance at the Surf; To the New World
Naxos/March 2025
Michael Daugherty: This Land Sings Inspired by the Life and Times and Woody Guthrie
Naxos/March 2020
Polaris String Quartet: Flow
Atoll/September 2018
Poetics
Equilibrium/November 2016
The Lightning Fields
MSR Classics/November 2016
Composer’s Collection: Daugherty
GIA Publications/January 2016
On Safari: Mirror Image Goes Wild Orchestra
MSR Classics/October 2015
Liaisons: Re-Imagining Sondheim from the Piano
ECM/September 2015
