Dr. Daniel Gary Busby (de Salazár) is a Mexican-American musician, conductor, music director, pedagogue, and authenticity training coach. He was the Chair of the Department of Drama in the Claire Trevor School of the Arts at the University of California, from 2013-2018. A conductor with a broad repertoire, his theatrical credits span the gamut from Stephen Schwartz’s GODSPELL to Igor Stravinsky’s
THE RAKE'S PROGRESS. His most recent engagement was in Juneau, Alaska, as music director of Perseverance Theatre’s
production of the 2015 Tony Award winning FUN HOME. As conductor, Dr. Busby has toured Europe and South America, conducting in Berlin, Leipzig, Budapest, Vienna, Florence, Rome, Venice and Bogotá. From 2008 to 2011 he served as Conductor-in-Residence of the Ovation Award winning Los Angeles Civic
Light Opera. Dr. Busby made his Portland Opera debut in 2014 with a production of THE PIRATES OF PENZANCE, a version originally created with director Bill Rauch at the Tony Award winning Oregon Shakespeare Festival. In addition to PIRATES, he also musically directed OSF’s critically acclaimed THE MUSIC MAN, musically supervised SHE LOVES ME, and conducted the Oregon Shakespeare Festival gay-adaptation of OKLAHOMA! He studied conducting with the late Samuel Krachmalnick and singing with renowned dramatic soprano, Gloria Lane. In addition to conducting, Dr. Busby is much sought after as a vocal coach, singing teacher, and clinician. He is a frequent Master Class teacher in the Southern California region; before joining the Music Theater faculty in the Department of Drama at UC Irvine, he served on the faculties of both USC and UCLA. Dr. Busby’s students are currently performing lead roles at the Metropolitan Opera, La Scala di Milano, on Broadway and in national tours, as well as in many local regional productions.
