An active soloist and freelancer, trumpet player Bruce Daugherty was a core member of the Millar Brass Ensemble in Chicago for over 30 years and can be heard on nine of the ensemble’s compact disc releases. The group received national recognition for their contribution to the successful classical music cross-over CDs “Heigh Ho Mozart!” and “Bibbidi Bobbidi Bach” (Delos) and is considered to be one of the best brass ensembles in the United States.

In addition, as an exceptional educator, Daugherty was Assistant Band Director and private trumpet instructor at New Trier High School in Winnetka, Illinois, for 20 years. He was Chamber Brass Coach at Midwest Young Artists Conservatory, a youth music program in northern Illinois, for 15 years. He has coached brass quintets that were selected to participate in the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition, and his students play in orchestras around the world. He founded Brassmeisters, a popular summer program for young brass players, at Elgin Community College, and later created a successful trumpet-only summer program called “Brass Knuckles” for motivated high schoolers.

Orchestras Daugherty has performed with include the Elgin Symphony, Illinois Chamber Symphony, Illinois Philharmonic, South Bend Symphony, and Lake Forest Symphony. He earned his Master of Music degree from Northwestern University and dual bachelor’s degrees in trumpet performance and music education from Central Washington University. Daugherty returned to Washington state in 2023, where he performs and teaches privately in the greater Seattle-Tacoma area.

Daugherty studied with Arnold Jacobs, Barbara Butler and Vincent Cichowicz.