Muldoon McDaniel to receive USI Honorary Doctor of Arts degree

Bridget Muldoon McDaniel, Founding Flutist and Artistic Director of Tales & Scales, is receiving an honorary Doctor of Arts degree for her innovative approach to engaging children’s imaginations through live musical storytelling in Evansville and the United States.

A classically trained flutist, Bridget moved to Evansville in 1984 to play second flute in both the Evansville Philharmonic Orchestra and the Owensboro Symphony Orchestra. Within her first year, she convinced several of her colleagues to join her in creating a less traditional approach for their in-school education performances. She called it musictelling—a unique blend of story, music and theater. The troupe started calling itself Tales & Scales and grew its roots by performing in Evansville elementary schools. In 1986, Bridget recruited a board of community leaders to incorporate Tales & Scales as a not-for-profit performing arts organization with the mission to ignite and nurture young imaginations with musictelling.

Through instituting an artistic collaborative process with composers, writers and directors, Bridget created an expansive view of the arts. Her ability to learn from artists and lead the way set her apart. As a result, Tales & Scales caught fire in Evansville. The excitement moved to include a national touring company that created and performed 25 original productions with companion workshops across the U.S., reaching over a million children in schools, libraries, community centers, festivals, theaters and symphony orchestras during its 30-year history.

In 2003, Bridget was presented with the Jaqueline Kennedy Onassis Award for Outstanding Public Service, part of the prestigious Jefferson Awards.
The Arts Council of Southwestern Indiana further recognized her commitment to arts and the community with the Mayor’s Arts Award and previously the Artist of the Year Award.

Her legacy of using a collaborative process to create opportunities for young people to explore live musical storytelling has ignited a whole generation of kids, now adults, with an enduring passion for artistic endeavor.