About Jo Ann

Pianist, conductor, musical director, recording artist, composer and arranger Jo Ann Daugherty loves making all kinds of music. March 2024 finds her at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC playing piano onstage in Songbird, a new adaption of Offenbach’s La Perichole set in prohibition-era New Orleans, with the Washington National Opera. In 2022-2023, she toured the US as Music Director/Conductor of SIX the Musical first national tour.

Her work in the jazz world has included performing at clubs and festivals throughout the US including the Chicago Jazz Festival, Dizzy’s Club and Smoke in NYC, Satchmo Fest in New Orleans, Jazz at Lincoln Center Shanghai, and Havana Jazz Festival in Cuba. As a solo artist, her jazz trio album Bring Joy earned a 4-star review from Downbeat Magazine and was listed as one of their “Best Albums of 2017.” Her larger band, Better Together, performs regularly at Winter’s Jazz Club in Chicago, presenting shows of the music of Al Jarreau, Ray Charles, Nina Simone, Marvin Gaye, and so much more.

Her work as a music director and keyboardist has led to conducting and playing with touring Broadway productions (SIX, Jersey Boys, Motown the Musical and more); arranging, directing, and performing concert specials for PBS with Under the Streetlamp; playing productions with Lyric Opera of Chicago (Jesus Christ Superstar, West Side Story); music-supervising and playing on the orchestral soundtrack of the wildlife documentary To The Ends of the Earth; and music-directing and playing on tour with An Unforgettable Nat King Cole Christmas.

She has led or collaborated on clinics with a focus on jazz and making a life as a professional musician at institutions such as Northwestern University, Florida State, Capital University, Truman State, University of Kansas, and Purdue University Fort Wayne, as well as numerous high schools and colleges in the Chicago area, and in Havana, Cuba. Past adventures include performing with the USO of Illinois, teaching jazz piano at Chicago’s Roosevelt University, and jamming with amazing musicians in Madagascar. Based in Chicago, she loves to bring joy to people through music.

LOTS OF VIDEO TO CHECK OUT ON YOUTUBE!

Thanks for dropping by!

—Jo Ann