MICHAEL DAUGHERTY Asclepius
“ I always try to take projects I am genuinely interested in and passionate about versus just trying to take projects for the money .” – Daugherty
ABOUT THE COMPOSER
Born 1954 in Cedar Rapids , IA
• Daugherty was born into a musical family in Iowa . His mother was an amateur singer , his father was a jazz drummer , and his grandmother was a silent film pianist . All of Michael ’ s four younger brothers are also professional musicians .
• After studying composition and jazz at the University of North Texas , Daugherty made his way to New York City , where he studied at the Manhattan School of Music and worked as an usher at Carnegie Hall . He later received a Fulbright scholarship to study computer music in Paris . While there he met the musicians Luciano Berio and Frank Zappa . After returning to the U . S ., he received his doctoral degree from Yale University .
• Daugherty ’ s music is influenced by pop culture , Romanticism , and postmodernism . His works have been performed by all major U . S . orchestras , and he serves as Professor of Composition at the University of Michigan . He is ranked as one of the most frequently performed living American composers .
THE WORLD AT A GLANCE
2007
MUSIC Alicia Keys ’ “ No One ”
FILM No Country for Old Men
ABOUT THE PIECE
• Daugherty wrote this fanfare for brass and percussion in 2007 .
• The work was commissioned by Dr . Cyrus Farrashi for the grand opening of the University of Michigan Cardiovascular Center . The title refers to Ascelpius , the Greek god of Medicine . The work is dedicated to the “ men and women who devote their lives to the noble cause of medical research and healing .”
LITERATURE Junot Díaz ’ The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
HISTORY The United Nations General Assembly adopts the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
20 BALTIMORE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA