George Daugherty

George Daugherty (b. Pendleton, September 25, 1955 – ) – Conductor, composer, producer, and director. Educated at Butler University, Indiana University, and the University of Cincinnati-College Conservatory, George Daugherty founded the Pendleton Festival Symphony in 1975 (at age 20) and started conducting for the American Ballet Theatre two years later. Early in his career, he has served as musical director for The Chicago City Ballet (1981-83), The Louisville Ballet (1985-90), and Ballet Chicago (1987-90). Starting in 1990, he started working with major orchestras and produced multi-media concerts that included film. His most famous work in this realm was Bugs Bunny on Broadway, which toured the world starting in 1990. Currently, he is the Music Director of Sinfonia Britannia, a London orchestra that premiered in 2005. He has guest conducted several of the leading orchestras in the United States, including the Cleveland Orchestra, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Philadelphia Orchestra, and the New York Philharmonic. Working in collaboration with producer David Wong, Daugherty has written, produced and directed many successful music-based television programs that have aired on ABC and PBS. In addition to his five Emmy nominations—the first for his work on Die Fledermaus (1987, ABC)—he won Emmy awards in animated production for Peter and the Wolf (ABC, 1986) and for the series The Chinese Siamese Cat (PBS, 2001).