Michael Daugherty

(2001) Rosa Parks Boulevard pays tribute to the woman who in 1955 helped set in motion the modern civil rights movement by her refusal to move to the back of the bus in Montgomery Alabama. This dramatic work features three trombones which represent the spirit of the African American preacher and the courage of Rosa Parks. Duration - ca. 11:30

for Concert Band-Winter Dreams (2015) for concert band is Michael Daughertys contemporary musical reflection on the creative world of Iowa artist Grant Wood (1891-1942). Composed in memory of Michaels father Willis Daugherty (1929-2011) the music also reflects onthe years when the composer was growing up in Cedar Rapids Iowa. A lush tapestry of slow moving sonorities unfolds as Winter Dreams evokes the bleak winter scenes of rural Iowa depicted in Grant Woods paintings and lithographs of the 1930s-1940s such as ?January? and ?February.? A haunting melody evokes a cold winter wind whistling ?down in the valley.? If you are looking for a soulful poignant and expressive work to program for your next concert look no further. Winter Dreams is wellsuited for bands at the college high school and community levels.

(1993)Since its premiere by the Baltimore Symphony in 1994 at Carnegie Hall the GRAMMY®-winning Metropolis Symphony has entered the orchestral repertoire and been performed by orchestras all over the world.Metropolis Symphony is a five-movement musical response to the world of Superman; Red Cape Tango Daugherty's final work based on the Superman mythology is set after Superman's fight to the death withDoomsday. The principal melody (first heard in the bassoon) is derived from the medieval Latin death chant Dies Irae. This dance of death is conceived as a tango presented at times like a concertino comprising stringquintet brass trio bassoon chimes and castanets. The orchestra alternates between legato and staccato sections to suggest a musical bullfight.

(1989)Since its premiere by the Baltimore Symphony in 1994 at Carnegie Hall the GRAMMY®-winning Metropolis Symphony has entered the orchestral repertoire and been performed by orchestras all over theworld.Metropolis Symphony is a five-movement musical response to the world of Superman and Oh Lois! invokes Lois Lane news reporter at the Daily Planet alongside Clark Kent (alias Superman). Marked withthe tempo “faster than a speeding bullet ” this five-minute movement is a lively polyrhythmic counterpoint that suggests a cartoon history of mishaps screams dialogue crashes and disasters all in rapid motion.Duration - ca. 5:00

(2000) Arranged for band by the composer UFO is inspired by the unidentified flying objects that have become an obsession in American popular culture. Written for and first performed and recorded by world-renowned percussionist Dame Evelyn Glennie this dramatic and colorful work is popular among professional and student percussionists and is always a hit with audiences. Duration - ca. 40:00

for Symphonic Band-Rio Grande (2015) for symphonic band is Grammy award winning composer Michael Daughertys follow-up to his iconic Niagara Falls (1997). The title refers to the legendary 1 250-mile river that flows from the mountains of southern Colorado to the Gulfof Mexico near Brownsville Texas. In Rio Grande the composer has created a powerful musical landscape that is magical and majestic. The percussion section comprised of timpani bongos woodblocks tom toms and bass drums creates a rhythmicundercurrent to an angular motif that is first heard in the woodwinds emerging high above the musical precipice. This jagged motif is passed on to individual instruments such as the tuba and eventually in various colorful guises to the entiresymphonic band. Reminding us of the long cultural history associated with the great river we also hear ghostly Mexican mariachi music echoing faraway through the canyons. In the coda all the musical material is combined to create a grandiose endingto our journey down the timeless Rio Grande. A resounding success at the world premiere given by the North Texas Wind Symphony (Eugene Migliaro Corporon conductor) Rio Grande should prove to be one of Daughertys most popular and performed bandworks for years to come.

(1997)Daugherty's first work for symphonic band Niagara Falls became an instant classic upon its premiere by the University of Michigan Symphony Band conducted by H. Robert Reynolds in 1997. Niagara Fallshas been played by high school university and professional wind ensembles all over the world and was featured in a highly acclaimed 2006 PBS documentary on the Falls. Inspired by the falls separating Canada and the UnitedStates this composition is another souvenir from Daugherty: a ten-minute musical ride over the Niagara River with an occasional stop at a haunted house or wax museum along the way.

Vulcan for Concert Band is Grammy award winning composer Michael Daughertys first work for the high school and intermediate level college band. The work is a colorful homage to Gene Roddenberrys interstellar universe as depicted in theclassic American television series Star Trek (1966-69). The title refers to the fiery planet Vulcan home world of half-human half-Vulcan Mr. Spock. As the rational-minded science officer aboard the starship Enterprise (commanded by thehot-blooded Captain James T. Kirk) Mr. Spock grapples with the ?fascinating? predicament of making decisions predicated on human emotion versus Vulcan logic. Daugherty has composed stirring yet highly structured music that alludes to the Vulcan?Pon Farr? ritual Vulcan telepathic mind-melds and the volcanic planet itself. At the the Ann Arbor Michigan world premiere (utilizing the combined forces of the Pioneer Huron and Skyline High School bands) Vulcan was an immediate hit andwill surely become one of Daughertys most performed works.

(1994)Motown Metal is inspired by the sounds and rhythms of industrial Detroit - city of automobile clamor and the sixties Motown sound. Using only instruments made totally of metal it is an assembly line ofascending and descending glissandi and rapid chromatic scales heard predominantly in the trombones. The tuba glockenspiel and anvil create a funky polyphony while trumpets and horns play big band staccato chords. Duration - ca.7:00 4 Horns 4 Trumpets 2 Trombones Bass Trombone Tuba 2 Percussionists Score

(1991)Since its premiere by the Baltimore Symphony in 1994 at Carnegie Hall the GRAMMY®-winning Metropolis Symphony has entered the orchestral repertoire and been performed by orchestras all over the world.Metropolis Symphony is a five-movement musical response to the world of Superman and Lex derives its title from one of Superman's most vexing foes the super-villain Lex Luthor. Marked“Diabolical” in the score this movement features a virtuoso violin soloist (Lex) who plays a fiendishly difficult fast triplet motive in perpetual motion pursued by the orchestration and a percussion section thatincludes four referee whistles placed quadraphonically on stage. Duration - ca. 10:00