UM: Music

The Los Angeles Times published a profile on Michael Daugherty, a UM music professor who was commissioned to write “Mount Rushmore” for the Pacific Symphony’s American Composers Festival. The work has its world premiere this week: “The composer’s home studio, just off campus on Ann Arbor’s old west side, is surrounded by large elm trees on the outside and is resonant of his eclectic spirit within. Bookshelves are packed with antique-store finds, ‘Star Trek’ collectibles and 1950s science-fiction movies. At the center of it all are the instruments of his trade. ‘I work like a director in a film,’ Daugherty says. ‘I work off the energy of the actors or in this case the singers. A lot of composers rely strictly on technology, but the human element is very important to me. I do have my own little world – my studio with my computer and MIDI gear, but in the end the music has to be performable.’” [Source]