The Golden Dream
50th Anniversary Celebration for the Golden Gate Bridge — co-written and directed with Pyro Spectaculars, carried live on local and national media.
Gallery of projects
Every credit, every chart position, every client.
A museum wing, not a brochure. The shows, the records, the clients, and — because a man who named his albums Bachbusters and Beethoven or Bust can't be trusted to keep a straight face for an entire website — our rates.
Fourteen ways to move a crowd.
More detail on several of these lives on the story page.
Starlight Magic
Tokyo Disneyland, 15th Anniversary Castle Spectacular.
Images ©Disney
Main Street Electrical Parade
Disneyland · Walt Disney World · Paris Disneyland · Tokyo Disneyland · Disney California Adventure.
Photo ©Disney
Video Globe
Created for the Epcot Millennium Celebration.
Photo ©Disney
Reflections of Earth — "Celebration"
Epcot Lagoon Spectacular, Scene 6.
Don's Solo Recordings
Bachbusters / Beethoven or Bust.
Chart graphic ©1988 VNU Business Media, Inc., used with permission
Sorcery in the Sky
Disney Studios Florida — 50th Anniversary of Fantasia fireworks spectacular.
Sonic Boon™
Digital sound effects — professional sound libraries for motion picture, TV, radio and multi-media post-production.
Fantasmic!
Disneyland Resort nightly spectacular.
Mickey in the Sky
Air-launch technology enabled placement and timing of aerial fireworks.
IllumiNations
Epcot Lagoon Spectacular.
Laserphonic Fantasy
Epcot Lagoon Spectacular.
"The Skater"
From Laserphonic Fantasy, Epcot — award-winning laser graphics segment. First use of non-continuous lines in laser animation; first use of laser image projection on a water-droplet screen.
Don D's Inferno
MIDI-programmable flame effects barge, Epcot.
Reflections of Earth — "Chaos"
Lagoon Spectacular, Scene 1.
Five records, three of them accidental hits.
Bachbusters (1986)
Don's first solo recording. Entered the Billboard Classical chart at #25 on February 8, 1986; by April it was the #1 classical "Reader's Choice" in Digital Audio and CD Review for six months running. On July 5, 1986 it claimed the #1 position on the Billboard Classical chart — bumping the Amadeus soundtrack — and held it for fourteen weeks. Ranked #4 on Billboard's Top Classical CDs of 1986, and still #11 on Top Classical Crossover Albums a full year later.
Telarc's first-ever Billboard #1 · 78 weeks in the Classical top 30
Beethoven or Bust (1988)
Entered the Billboard charts at #7 on March 5, 1988; two weeks later, #2, surpassed only by "The Best of John Williams." On April 16, John Williams made way for Dorsey — #1 on Billboard's Classical Crossover chart, held for 24 weeks. Billboard's #2 Classical Crossover Album of 1988. Recorded at home, in Anaheim.
Busted (1997)
Previously unreleased tracks, including the soundtrack to Epcot's "Laserphonic Fantasy," works-in-progress, selections from the uncompleted "Mozart's a Must" — and a bonus track, "Don Dorsey Unplugged," performed entirely without the aid of electricity. No small feat for an electronic musician.
Time Warp (compilation, feat. "Ascent")
Don's commissioned opening track, "Ascent," alongside Erich Kunzel and the Cincinnati Pops performing themes from Star Trek, Battlestar Galactica, Star Wars, Alien, Superman and 2001: A Space Odyssey.
Star Tracks II (compilation)
Another commissioned all-electronic piece, on a Cincinnati Pops album of sci-fi movie music conducted by Erich Kunzel — Star Trek I, II and IV, Back to the Future, The Right Stuff, Cocoon, Space Camp, Return of the Jedi and more.
Reviewer comments (21)
"Giving Don Dorsey's Bachbusters CD a '10' for performance seems almost like damning it with faint praise. Dorsey's intention was to preserve the integrity of Bach's music while at the same time taking us on a unique musical trip. He has succeeded on both counts."
Brian J. Murphy, Digital Audio & Compact Disc Review
"Bachbusters is one of the best classical works ever recorded."
John F. Tamburo, The Audiophile-File
"Electronically, the performances are as far advanced of Walter Carlos' original 'Switched on Bach' as that was beyond the first vacuum tube computers. This recording is serious business and fun too."
Peter Goodman, Newsday
"Some recordings change the way we hear. When 'Switched on Bach' hit the stores in the late 1960s, a sound revolution began. With the release of 'Bachbusters' that revolution seems as old-fashioned as wax cylinders. The sound overwhelms!"
Kurt Loft, Tampa Tribune
"By making his keyboards sound like nothing else and everything else at the same time, Dorsey proves that the synthesizer is as much an instrument as any other, not just a machine that makes bleeps."
Bill Henderson, Orlando Sentinel
"Don Dorsey is much more than a musician. He is an adventurer in entertainment, a high-tech renaissance man who uses the tools of his art to their fullest."
Pro Sound News
"This disc will grab your ear and give it something new — a way of listening to Beethoven that your ears have never heard before."
Melinda Bargreen, Seattle Times
"Dorsey does a wonderful job in using complex synth textures to express his emotions and feelings… The precision and clarity of the music is a tribute not only to his skill on keyboards, but to his insight in keeping his complex renditions from becoming a cluttered mass of noise."
Roger Serfas, Keyboard
Full set of eleven Bachbusters and ten Beethoven or Bust notices — Billboard, Cash Box, the Chicago Tribune, the Cincinnati Enquirer and more — on request.
Excerpts from fan mail (18)
"I am a high school student in Butler, PA, and I recently went looking for my first classical album and discovered Don Dorsey. It opened my eyes to the world of classical music."
"A friend who teaches public school music in Monrovia has her kids request to hear Bachbusters rather than go out to recess!"
"This is only my third fan letter to a nationally famous artist (Francis Coppola and Frank Zappa are the other two)."
"You'll be happy to know that I'm no longer a synth-o-phobic."
"I am the refrigeration mechanic on board this vessel which is conducting a Soviet-American joint survey (high seas salmon-tagging). Your music has opened up a whole new world for me."
"You naughty person. Are you related to Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey? And how dare you use a drum machine!"
People really do write the darndest things. The full stack — twelve more, including a request for the Ride of the Valkyries and a formal accusation of "using your music as both a stimulant and a narcotic" — on request.
And the customer is always right.
"Don presented a vision to each member of the creative and management team two years in advance of Opening Day. The project vision not only remained unchanged, it arrived early and under budget! Don delivered a fantastic project."
Mark A. Nichols, Producer, ITEC Productions
"Don combines brilliant creative with real world business savvy. His passion is exemplary… Don's work with us resulted in our winning a National Addy award. He sets the bar high and makes sure it stays there."
Ross M. Cibella, President, Century III at Universal Studios
"Don has continually added expertise and wonder to many Disney projects… His historic contributions to Disney — such as the Main Street Electrical Parade — continue to entertain millions of people around the world."
Larry Billman, Creative Director, Tokyo Disney Resort
"Don Dorsey brought light and understanding to our client's marketing solution… He is one of the very few original thinkers left to modern society."
Doug Yoon, Director of Interactive Productions, DVC Worldwide
"I want to personally thank you for your time, talent and dedication… nothing but rave reviews! On time, on budget, on target!"
Ron Logan, Vice-President, Walt Disney Attractions
"What sets Dorsey Productions apart is that not only do they have original 'outside the box' ideas, but also the skills to bring those ideas to reality… on time and on budget."
Packy McFarland, Owner, Real to Reel Productions
The full client list (60+)
- 42 Entertainment
- Audio by the Bay
- Audio Visual Imagineering
- AVAmerica
- Bally's
- Blizzard Entertainment
- Century III
- Disney Studios Theme Park
- Disney California Adventure
- Disneyland Resort
- Disneyland Resort Paris
- Dodge
- DVC Interactive
- Epcot
- Feliciano Enterprises
- Festival Artists Corp.
- Frito-Lay
- Hansen's Cola
- Harrah's
- Hong Kong Disneyland
- Jack Wagner Productions
- JBA Associates
- Kawasaki Motors Corp.
- Knoxville World's Fair
- Long Beach City College
- Lotte Corp.
- Mattel
- Mexicana Airlines
- More Media Group, Inc.
- National Harbor
- New England Digital Corp.
- Philadelphia Eagles
- Projects Unlimited
- Pyro-Spectaculars
- Quincy Jones Productions
- Radio City Music Hall
- Real to Reel Productions
- Robert F. Jani Productions
- Saddleback College
- Sea World
- Select Productions
- Shanghai Disneyland
- Silver Dollar City
- Six Flags Theme Parks
- Sonic Boon Digital Sound Effects
- Sonic Science Corp.
- Suzuki
- Telarc International Corp.
- The Walt Disney Company
- Tokyo Disneyland
- Tokyo DisneySea
- Tom Carter Enterprises
- Unicorp National Developments
- Universal Creative
- Universal Studios Florida
- Universal Studios Hollywood
- Universal Studios Osaka
- Universal's Islands of Adventure
- Walt Disney Imagineering
- Walt Disney World Company
- Yamaha
- Zenith
You could be next.
What's on the console now.
The Conductor parade-control system's worldwide rollout (2015–2025, described on the story page) is the active, ongoing thread. A few previously announced initiatives — unmasked, The EpicCenter, and National Harbor — have appeared on this page at various points; treat them as historical markers of where Don's attention has gone, not live announcements.
unmasked
Previously announced initiative.
The EpicCenter
Previously announced initiative.
National Harbor
Previously announced initiative — Don has also consulted directly for National Harbor as a client (see the roster above).
Our rates.
Our Rates
- Fast(very popular)
- Faster(even more popular)
- Yesterday(our most requested rate)