Award-winning composer Michael Daugherty's first published work for young band describes a stretch of Interstate 75 that crosses through Florida's Everglades National Park. Alligator Alley celebrates this noble beast that has remained largely unchanged from prehistoric times. The first theme (Alligator's Theme) features the woodwinds (predominantly bassoons) while the second theme (Hunter's Theme) is performed by the brass. Program notes and staging suggestions are included in this marvelously descriptive work. A free downloadable interdisciplinary curriculum for teaching Alligator Alley is available at https://composersforum.org/bq-compositions/alligator-alley/. BandQuest®, an exciting series of new music and accompanying curricula for band, is a program published by the American Composers Forum. The series was started as a response to feedback from music educators that there is a pressing need for new, fresh band music. The heart of this program is new works written by a diverse group of leading American composers who have created challenging pieces that are a true departure from standard middle school repertoire. Every BandQuest project includes a residency component in which the composer works collaboratively with a middle school as they create their new piece. Many BandQuest pieces are accompanied by an interdisciplinary curriculum designed to assist students as they learn the music and to integrate each piece with non-music studies. Visit www.bandquest.org to learn more about this innovative series, and email bandquest@composersforum.org to request a free downloadable audio catalog.

(2003) Award-winning composer Michael Daugherty's first published work for young band describes a stretch of Interstate 75 that crosses through Florida's Everglades National Park. Alligator Alley celebrates this noble beast that has remained largely unchanged from prehistoric times. The first theme (Alligator's Theme) features the woodwinds (predominantly bassoons) while the second theme (Hunter's Theme) is performed by the brass. Program notes and staging suggestions are included in this marvelously descriptive work. Duration - ca. 4:30 Free interdisciplinary curriculum for the piece is available for download at BandQuest.org. Learn more on YouTube! BandQuest®, an exciting series of new music and accompanying curricula for band, is a program published by the American Composers Forum. The series was started as a response to feedback from music educators that there is a pressing need for new, fresh band music. The heart of this program is new works written by a diverse group of leading American composers who have created challenging pieces that are a true departure from standard middle school repertoire. Every BandQuest project includes a residency component in which the composer works collaboratively with a middle school as they create their new piece. Many BandQuest pieces are accompanied by an interdisciplinary curriculum designed to assist students as they learn the music and to integrate each piece with non-music studies. Visit www.bandquest.org to learn more about this innovative series, and email bandquest@composersforum.org to request a free downloadable audio catalog.

(2007) Asclepius, named after the Greek god of medicine, uses the pulse of a beating heart as a musical metaphor. This fanfare celebrates the men and women who dedicate their lives to the noble cause of medical research and healing. Scored for 4 horns, 4 trumpets, tuba, timpani and 2 percussion. Duration - ca. 5:30

(2006) Diamond in the Rough is inspired by the multi-faceted music of Mozart - whose life, like a diamond, reflects and refracts many stories and myths. In the first movement (Magic), complex rhythms and unusual orchestrations create different angles on Papageno's glockenspiel heard in The Magic Flute. Crystal glasses resonate in the second movement (Fifty-Five Minutes past Midnight), echoing the exact time of Mozart's mysterious death on December 5, 1791. The last movement (Wig Dance) mirrors the image of Mozart as an avid partygoer who once said he preferred the art of dancing rather than music. Duration - ca. 9:00

(2003) Fire and Blood is a concerto for violin and orchestra inspired by Diego Rivera's famous murals entitled Detroit Industry at the Detroit Institute of Arts. Rivera's murals, which were commissioned by Edsel Ford in 1932 to represent the automobile industry of Detroit, were painted in fresco on four large walls of an interior court of the museum. Rivera thought them to be the best work of his career, and himself predicted the possibility of turning his murals into music: In my ears, I heard the wonderful symphony which came from his factories where metals were shaped into tools for men's service. It was a new music, waiting for the composer. . .to give it communicable form. Duration - ca. 25:00

(2003) Fire and Blood is a concerto for violin and orchestra inspired by Diego Rivera's famous murals entitled Detroit Industry at the Detroit Institute of Arts. Rivera's murals, which were commissioned by Edsel Ford in 1932 to represent the automobile industry of Detroit, were painted in fresco on four large walls of an interior court of the museum. Rivera thought them to be the best work of his career, and himself predicted the possibility of turning his murals into music: In my ears, I heard the wonderful symphony which came from his factories where metals were shaped into tools for men's service. It was a new music, waiting for the composer. . .to give it communicable form. Duration - ca. 25:00

Inspired by the iconic American pink plastic flamingo lawn ornaments, the real pink flamingos at Cypress Gardens water theme park, and the lively rhythms of flamenco dance.

(2005) Inspired by the life and paintings of the American artist Georgia O'Keeffe. In three movements: I. Bone, II. Above Clouds, III. Black Rattle. 24 minutes.

(2006) Ladder to the Moon is a musical tribute to the urban landscapes of American artist Georgia O'Keeffe, who lived and painted in Manhattan before moving to New Mexico. From 1925-30, O'Keeffe created over 20 paintings of newly constructed New York skyscrapers like the Radiator Building and the Shelton Hotel. In skyscrapers, O'Keeffe discovered a different reality, simultaneously realistic and abstract. Duration - ca. 20:00

(2011) Lost Vegas (by Grammy®-winning composer Michael Daugherty) was commissioned by the University of Michigan Symphony Band and the University of Miami Wind Ensemble. It is a swinging tribute to an earlier epoch when legendary entertainers like Elvis Presley, Peggy Lee, Esquivel, Bobby Darin, Stan Kenton, and Frank Sinatra's Rat Pack performed in the intimate, swanky showrooms of the Sands, Tropicana, and Flamingo hotels in Las Vegas, Nevada. Torn down long ago, the cozy nightclubs - where the Rat Pack once performed edgy material - have been replaced by large arenas where commercialized family entertainment is now presented. Daugherty's composition for symphonic band is a trip down Memory Lane to an adventurous and vibrant Vegas that once was - and returns, if only for a moment, in Lost Vegas. Duration - ca. 14:00

(2012) On the Air for Symphonic Band (by Grammy®-winning composer Michael Daugherty) is a music fantasy on Arturo Toscanini, who conducted the NBC Symphony Orchestra in live radio broadcasts at Rockefeller Center in New York City from 1937 to 1954. Born in Parma, Italy, Toscanini (1867-1954) was internationally recognized as the most gifted conductor of his time, famous for his definitive interpretation of operatic and symphonic repertoire. In 1936, Toscanini was forced into exile at the height of his career for his refusal to become part of Mussolini's Fascist regime. The 70-year-old sailed across the Atlantic Ocean to the island of Manhattan, where he cast his magic spell upon all who heard him conduct. Under his baton the NBC Symphony was heard by millions of listeners, and through his live radio broadcasts and recordings, Maestro Toscanini became a household name in America. Life magazine reported, The world knows Toscanini as a great conductor with a fearful temper, an unfailing memory, and the power to lash orchestras into frenzies of fine playing. In On the Air, Michael Daugherty has composed exciting music that captures Toscanini's tempestuous temperament, his musical intensity, and the frenzied tempos of his legendary performances. Duration - ca. 6:00 See a YouTube video for On the Air here

(2003) Raise the Roof is inspired by the construction of grand architectural wonders such as the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris (1345) and the Empire State Building in New York City (1931). Daugherty creates a grand acoustic construction by bringing the timpani into the foreground and incorporating a wide variety of timpani techniques to create long expressive melodies and a tour de force cadenza. Duration - ca. 13:00

Inspired by J. Edgar Hoover, who directed the F.B.I. from 1924 until his death in 1972. Hoover's grim, threatening, yet darkly comic personality is ever-present in this work. Incorporates pre-recorded sound samples of Hoover's voice, an interesting twist on the director's wiretapping.

A dream-like musical journey inspired by the legendary stretch of Sunset Boulevard.

(2004) Tell My Fortune is a concerto for orchestra that visits the dark world of gypsies and their methods of fortune telling. In Palm, the composer reads the lines, marks and patterns of a hand as though it were a musical staff. Peering into a crystal ball, Crystal features flute and alto flute in a haunting duet, with strings playing a rhythmic counterpoint and a percussion accompaniment of tuned crystal glasses and wind chimes. Card unfolds like a deck of tarot cards, shuffled and spread across a table. Duration - ca. 28:00

Trail of Tears (2010) was commissioned by a consortium consisting of the American Composers Orchestra, Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra, Delaware Symphony Orchestra, Omaha Symphony and Tupelo Symphony. The world premiere was given by the Omaha Symphony under the direction of Thomas Wilkins with Amy Porter, solo flute, on March 26, 2010. It is scored for solo flute, two horns, two trumpets, two trombones, timpani, percussion, harp and strings. Duration is approximately 24 minutes.

Inspired by classic American film noir cinema, in which Venetian blinds were often used to create an interplay of shadows. In three movements: Dark, Shadows, and Light. 9 minutes.