Bugs Bunny is one of the most recognized cartoon characters in the world, whose signature phrase “What’s Up, Doc?” has long since entered the English language.

Bugs’ first ‘reel’ appearance in front of his soon-to-be-adoring public was in A Wild Hare directed by Tex Avery. Since then, Bugs’ zany antics in hundreds of cartoon favourites have made him a legend throughout the world.

This cool, collected, carrot-chomping rabbit is the unequivocal superstar of the Looney Tunes family. With never a ‘hare’ out of place he always manages to outsmart his adversaries, whoever they may be. He’s a real American icon who has graced TV and cinema screens the world over.

Bugs Bunny’s cartoons have twice been nominated for Academy Awards, and his Knighty Knight Bugs won a coveted Oscar®. Bugs has starred in four films in addition to his hundreds of animated shorts and 21 prime time television specials.

George Daugherty has conducted more than 125 American and international orchestras and earned a Primetime Emmy Award, five Emmy nominations, and numerous other awards for his work in television and film. He made his New York Philharmonic debut in 2015 with four sold-out concerts in David Geffen Hall, and recently returned to guest conduct the New York Philharmonic in May of this year, with three more sold-out Lincoln Center concerts. His recent performances also include a return engagement with The Philadelphia Orchestra, as well as debuts with The Boston Pops and Detroit Symphony.  He has conducted the Los Angeles Philharmonic at The Hollywood Bowl, and the National Symphony Orchestra at Wolf Trap, appearing with each orchestra more than 20 times.

Current and recent appearances also include the NAC Orchestra, where he has appeared frequently over the years; Pittsburgh and San Francisco Symphony Orchestras; the Cleveland and Minnesota Orchestras; and the Hong Kong Philharmonic. He has been a frequent guest conductor at the Sydney Opera House and Sydney Symphony Orchestra, with whom he also recorded, and with the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra in London and on tour, including to the United States and Canada with Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer, Charlotte Church, the Royal Ballet, and The Westminster Choir and Bell Ringers.

Mr. Daugherty has also conducted the symphony orchestras of Dallas, Houston, Seattle, Baltimore, Montreal, Milwaukee, Buffalo, Vancouver, Toronto, Atlanta, Fort Worth, San Antonio, Indianapolis, Cincinnati, Louisville, Syracuse, Winnipeg, Columbus, Edmonton, North Carolina, Charlotte, Delaware, Phoenix, New Orleans and Grant Park, as well as the Rochester Philharmonic, Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, Calgary Philharmonic and Pacific Symphony; the Danish National, Moscow, West Australia, Melbourne and Adelaide Symphony Orchestras; and the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra, Ireland’s RTÉ Concert Orchestra, Russian National Orchestra, Auckland Philharmonia, Orquesta Sinfonica de Venezuela and New Japan Philharmonic; and the major Italian opera houses of Rome, Florence, Torino and Reggio Emilia.

He has conducted for ballet dancers, including Baryshnikov and Nureyev, and for performances by the American Ballet Theatre, Bavarian Staatsoper Ballet, La Scala Ballet and Teatro Regio di Torino. He has been music director of Ballet Chicago, Chicago City Ballet, Louisville Ballet and Ballet San Jose.

George Daugherty received a Primetime Emmy as executive producer of ABC’s animation and live-action production of Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf, which he also directed, wrote and conducted, and for which he was also nominated for an Emmy award for Outstanding Music Direction. He was executive producer and writer of the PBS/Sesame Workshop children’s series Sagwa, The Chinese Siamese Cat, and received an Emmy nomination for his ABC network music education specials.

In 1990, Daugherty created, directed and conducted the hit Broadway musical Bugs Bunny on Broadway, a live-orchestra and film stage-production which sold-out its extended run at New York’s Gershwin Theatre on Broadway, and has since played to critical acclaim and sold-out houses all over the world. The Bugs Bunny symphonic concert tradition continued when Daugherty and producing partner David Ka Lik Wong launched a new version, Bugs Bunny at the Symphony, in 2010, with double world premieres at the Sydney Opera House with the Sydney Symphony, and the Hollywood Bowl with the Los Angeles Philharmonic. The current version of the concert, Bugs Bunny at the Symphony II, also created by Daugherty and Wong, premiered in 2013 with world premieres at the Hollywood Bowl/Los Angeles Philharmonic, Houston Symphony at the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion, and National Symphony at Wolf Trap. It was also presented at the NAC in 2013.

George Daugherty has lived in San Francisco for the past 20 years.

David Ka Lik Wong was awarded a coveted Emmy Award for his work as producer on Peter and the Wolf in 1996, and was also nominated for an Emmy in 1994 for his work as producer of Rhythm & Jam, the ABC series of Saturday morning music education specials for children.

He teamed with George Daugherty as principal producer for the Peter and the Wolf project, the animation and live-action production starring Kirstie Alley, Lloyd Bridges, Sleepless in Seattle’s Ross Malinger, and the new animated characters of legendary animation director Chuck Jones. He also produced the interactive CD-ROM version of the production for Time Warner Interactive.

He was also the senior producer for the Warner Bros. documentary film The Magical World of Chuck Jones, directed by George Daugherty and starring interviews by Steven Spielberg, Whoopi Goldberg, George Lucas and Ron Howard, among many others.

He has been Producer for the Warner Bros. touring concert production Bugs Bunny on Broadway since 1991, and the sequels Bugs Bunny at the Symphony and Bugs Bunny at the Symphony II since 2010, as they have toured the world, and he co-produced the original audio CD album for Warner Bros. Records.

Mr. Wong has produced innovative symphony orchestra concerts for some of the world’s leading orchestras, including the New York Philharmonic at Lincoln Center, the Boston Pops, the National Symphony Orchestra, the Hong Kong Philharmonic, The Philadelphia Orchestra, the Royal Philharmonic, the Sydney Opera House, the San Francisco Symphony, the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl, the Wales Millennium Centre, Sinfonia Britannia, and many others. He also produced two Christmas concerts for the NAC Orchestra.

Mr. Wong has teamed with George Daugherty, Amy Tan and the legendary Sesame Workshop to produce and create the Emmy Award-winning PBS/Sesame Workshop children’s television series Sagwa, The Chinese Siamese Cat.

He is also the producer of the new WaterTower Music CD release of Bugs Bunny at the Symphony, recorded at the Sydney Opera House with the Sydney Symphony. In addition to his Emmy Awards and nominations, he has won numerous other awards during his career, including the Grand Award of both the Houston and Chicago International Film Festivals, a Silver Award of the Chicago Film Festival, two Parents’ Choice Awards and the Kids First Award.

David Ka Lik Wong was born in Hong Kong, and moved to San Francisco with his family at the age of 12. He still calls San Francisco home.

Tobi Hunt McCoy is enjoying another year as Season Stage Manager with the National Arts Centre Orchestra. In past seasons, McCoy stage managed the Lord of the Rings Symphony, Mendelssohn’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream with Christopher Plummer in 2001 and Colm Feore in 2014, and much of the Orchestra’s educational and Pops programming. In 2014, she co-produced the Pops show On the Air with Jack Everly for the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, a show they produced in 2007 for the NAC Orchestra. 

Additional professional duties have included cheering on Luke and Princess Leia with Charlie Ross, Émilie Fournier and Erik Ochsner during the Star Wars Pops concert; dressing up in 1980’s finery for All Night Long – Music of the 80s; bracing the backstage doors against the almighty power of Richard Strauss, Yannick Nézet-Séguin and the air conditioning system at Montreal’s La Maison Symphonique; providing air-guitar support during the Led Zeppelin tribute concert; and duck wrangling for the Mysterioso Pops concert.

She is excited to be back teaching English and Drama at Lisgar Collegiate.