Artist Bio: Chuck Larkin

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Chuck Larkin

Chuck Larkin is an award-winning pianist, music director, conductor, composer, and cabaret artist. Larkin spent seven years as Associate Conductor and Keyboard player for the Broadway hit Jersey Boys in both the Broadway in Chicago and National Tour casts. Music Director credits include world premieres of Mr Dickens' Hat, Shining Lives, and River's End; Chicago productions of Far From Home, Sentimental Journey: A Musical Tale of Love and War, A Civil War Christmas, and At Wit's End; as well as multiple seasons at American Folklore Theatre in Door County, Wisconsin. A renowned Cabaret artist, Larkin is a regular at Chicago's Davenport's, Venus Cabaret, and countless other club venues. He also toured extensively with Franc D'Ambrosio's Broadway Cabaret series. As a composer and lyricist, his credits include Hen Lake, Sophie's Masterpiece, and the award-winning River's End. An evening of his songs, Keep Me In Love, earned an After Dark Award for Chicago's Number 1 Cabaret Show. Larkin has performed his original work at the Chicago Humanities Festival, New York's ASCAP/MAC songwriter showcase, and onstage at Carnegie Hall in "Now and Then," a salute to contemporary songwriters. He music directs and plays in several shows with Artists Lounge Live nationwide.

Artist Bio: WILLIAM KURK

ABOUT THE ARTIST

WILLIAM KURK

William Kurk is a diverse and in-demand piano and synthesizer afficiando, music director, band leader, composer, and recording artist. Born in Chicago, Kurk's renowned musical family includes his grandmother, composer, educator, and author Reverend Dr. Lena Mclin, and great-granduncle Thomas A. Dorsey, the father of gospel music. Kurk toured with popular acts The Dells, Marvelettes, Platters, and Coasters, and accompanied an array of notable artists including Dionne Warwick, Melba Moore, Martha Reeves, Koko Taylor, Andre DeShields, Taylor Dane, Chico DeBarge, Malcolm-Jamal Warner, KRS-ONE, Kool Moe Dee, Michelle Williams, Ronnie DeVoe, and Bill Cosby. Theatre credits include music directing Sarafina (Black Theatre Alliance Award nomination), Once On This Island, Ragtime, Hair, Runaways, Godspell, Nefertiti, The Wiz, and Cabaret, as well as several Artists Lounge Live concerts nationwide. As a recording artist, Kurk has released several albums including The Sound: Volumes 1,2, & 3, Pop Fusion, Super Pop Fusion, Legacy, and Willionaire. He founded the band William Kurk Enterprise and played with Chicago's Lakeshore Encores. Kurk is the acclaimed host of web series Synth Sounds Of and the documentary Electric Rhythm for Reverb.com. He graduated Columbia College Chicago with a BM in Composition. williamkurk.com. Twitter, Insta, & Youtube: @williamkurk.

Artist Bio: JEREMY KAHN

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Jeremy Kahn

Jeremy Kahn is a distinguished Chicago pianist, dividing his time between jazz venues, pit orchestras, and recording and teaching studios. He has performed with many musical luminaries including Dizzy Gillespie, Aretha Franklin, Mary Wilson, Madonna, Joni Mitchell, Branford Marsalis, Chet Atkins, Max Roach, Ray Brown, Tito Puente, Barbara Cook, and Leslie Uggams. Theatre credits include Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (w. Donny Osmond), Cinderella (w. Eartha Kitt), Fiddler On the Roof (w. Theodore Bikel), Spamalot (w. Tim Curry, Hank Azaria, David Hyde Pierce), Grease (w. Sheena Easton), The King and I (w. Maureen McGovern), Hot Mikado (Conductor), Louie & Keely Live At The Sahara (Conductor), Pal Joey (Conductor), Cats, Crazy For You, La Cage Aux Folles, Les Miserables, Beauty and the Beast, Jersey Boys, West Side Story, Wicked, and The Wizard of Oz. Other appearances include Chicago and Milwaukee Symphony Orchestras, and Chicago, Hyde Park, and Poznan (Poland) Jazz Festivals. Mr. Kahn is a faculty member of Northwestern University, DePaul University, Elmhurst College, and the Music Institute of Chicago. Recordings include Most Of A Nickel, The Jitterbug Waltz, and Joy Road: Volumes 1 and 2. He was also featured in the Emmy-nominated special Get Happy: Angela Ingersoll Sings Judy Garland on PBS. kahnman.com

Artist Bio: Jo Ann Daugherty

ABOUT THE ARTIST

JO ANN DAUGHERTY

Pianist, conductor, musical director, recording artist, composer and arranger Jo Ann Daugherty loves making all kinds of music. She recently returned to Chicago after touring the US as Music Director/Conductor of SIX: The Musical First National Tour. Her work with jazz multi-reedist Victor Goines has included performing in beautiful spaces such as 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.” Plans are in the works for more recording in early 2023. 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 Artists Lounge Live’s 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, leading her own group at the Chicago Jazz Festival twice, and jamming with amazing musicians in Madagascar. Based in Chicago, she loves to bring joy to people through music.