Michael Daugherty: Dreamachine, Trail of Tears & Reflections on the Mississippi

Composer Michael Daugherty charts the tragic, forced march of Native Americans across the 19th-century United States in his powerful flute concerto Trail of Tears. Performed brilliantly by Amy Porter, the work’s evocative melodies, fiery rhythms and sheer rawness tell a tragic story of atrocities, forgotten rites and memories of a lost homeland. Percussionist Evelyn Glennie breathes life into Daugherty’s Dreamachine, a brilliant, hilarious, imaginative tribute to man’s relationship with machines, including Leonardo’s obsession with flying and cartoonist Rube Goldberg’s fascination with outlandish contraptions. And the tuba concerto Reflections on the Mississippi, featuring Carol Jantsch, spectacularly captures the great American river in dazzling, kaleidoscopic colour.