Michael Daugherty

UFO

The world of American pop culture inspires much of Daugherty's music, in the present case, the unidentified flying objects that have been an obsession in American popular culture since 1947. The soloist is introduced as an alien, arriving unexpectedly and playing mysterious percussion instruments in unfamiliar ways. The three major sections of the composition are entitled Unidentified, Flying, and Objects. There are also two brief interludes entitled Traveling Music and ??? during which the percussion soloist moves through the audience and around the stage while performing sleight-of-hand improvisations that may leave the listener wondering: is this another UFO sighting?