Naxos’ American Classics series this month stages something of a coup world famous percussionist Evelyn Glennie performs on an exciting disc of music by one of America ’s leading living composers. Gramophone Artist of the Year Marin Alsop directs the Colorado Symphony Orchestra in stunning performances and to crown the release, Daugherty himself writes the fascinating sleeve notes. The Times has described Michael Daugherty as `a master icon-maker? and hailed his `maverick imagination, fearless structural sense and meticulous ear?. His music has the uncanny knack of speaking everybody’s language at once while retaining the ability to surprise, move, stimulate, inspire and amuse. Commissioned by the Philadelphia Orchestra and written in 2001, Philadelphia Stories is an orchestral travelogue of the sounds and rhythms of Philadelphia past and present. It is cast in three movements the first beginning at sundown, the second, a Poe-inspired movement entitled Tell-Tale Harp after midnight, and the third at sunrise.UFO, written in 1999 for Evelyn Glennie, is inspired by unidentified flying objects and sounds, beginning with Traveling Music where the percussion soloist, in the guise of an alien from outer space, mysteriously enters the concert hall playing a waterphone and mechanical siren. This is set to be a must-have edition for any collector.