Dr. Michael Daugherty is a multiple GRAMMY Award-winning composer who has achieved international recognition as one of the ten most performed American composers of concert music, according to the League of American Orchestras. His orchestral music, recorded by Naxos over the last two decades, has received six GRAMMY Awards, including Best Contemporary Classical Composition in 2011 for Deus ex Machina for piano and orchestra and in 2017 for Tales of Hemingway for cello and orchestra. Born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa in 1954 and is the son of a dance-band drummer and the oldest of five brothers, all professional musicians. As a young man, Daugherty studied composition with many of the preeminent composers of the 20th century including Pierre Boulez at IRCAM in Paris (1979), Jacob Druckman, Earle Brown, Bernard Rands and Roger Reynolds at Yale (1980-82), and György Ligeti in Hamburg (1982-84). Daugherty was also an assistant to jazz arranger Gil Evans in New York from 1980-82. In 1991, Daugherty joined the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre and Dance as Professor of Composition, where he is a mentor to many of today’s most talented young composers. He is also a frequent guest of professional orchestras, festivals, universities and conservatories around the world.
Dr. Rodney Dorsey is a professor of music in bands. Ensembles under Dorsey’s direction have performed at state and national events including the College Band Directors National Conference North/Northwest Regional Conference and the Music for All National Festival. He is an active guest conductor, having led intercollegiate, all-state, and regional honors bands around the country. Dorsey has presented clinic sessions at national and state conferences, including the College Band Directors National Association, National Association for Music Education, College Music Society, and the Midwest Clinic. He has also presented at numerous state music conferences around the country. Dorsey’s professional memberships include the College Band Directors National Association, National Association for Music Education, Indiana Bandmasters Association, Kappa Kappa Psi, Tau Beta Sigma (honorary), Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, and Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Incorporated.