Michael Doherty is an active participant in the music and theatre scenes of Atlantic Canada. As a composer, sound designer and musical director, he has worked with Centaur Theatre, 2b Theatre, In Good Co, Theatre New Brunswick, Neptune Theatre, The Notable Acts Theatre Festival, Eastern Front, The Playhouse, Theatre St. Thomas, Theatre UNB, Dalhousie University Theatre, Talawa Theatre Co. in the U.K. and Ship’s Co. Theatre in Nova Scotia, where his design for The Mystery of Maddy Heisler earned him a Merit award in 2007 for best score/sound design. Michael was nominated twice in that same category for 2008. He has been the musical director and arranger for Fredericton’s Christmas @ the Playhouse since 2001 and has conducted various ensembles in many musical genres; most recently for St. Thomas University’s production of ‘The Three Penny Opera’, the Valley Young Co.’s production of Sondheim‘s ‘Company‘ .
Michael has composed for film, radio and television and has collaborated with many Atlantic Canadian choreographers on dance works both large and small. Michael recently worked with acclaimed choreographer Lesandra Dodson on her multi dimensional piece ‘The Broken Spoke‘ .A much sought-after multi-instrumentalist and session musician, Michael performs jazz, reggae, pop rock and folk. As a producer and engineer, he has worked on a diverse array of projects including CD releases by; jazz and new music artists Out of Order, Geordie Haley, and the Bariomatic Trust; alternative folk acts Vetch, Debbie Adshade and David Myles; and roots and blues group Brallochan and Hot Toddy. Many of these projects have received national and international attention as well as several regional and national awards, culminating in Hot Toddy’s East Coast Music Award for blues recording of the year for Salty Sessions vol II at ECMA 2005. Michael’s Singing Dog Recording Studio was nominated for studio of the year at ECMA 2003 and he recently received the musician’s achievement award at ECMA 2008. Michael lives in Devon, and is currently the resident sound designer and composer at Theatre New Brunswick.
