Michael Daugherty won a Grammy Award for Best Classical Contemporary Composition for his three-part homage to trains, “Deus Ex Machina,” recorded by the Nashville Symphony on his “Metropolis Symphony” CD. The award was presented in afternoon ceremonies Sunday, Feb. 13, prior to the national broadcast of the Grammy Awards.

The album also received Grammys for Best Orchestral Performance and Best Engineered Album in the classical music category.

Daugherty (photo left) is a professor of music composition at the U-M School of Music, Theatre and Dance. Since his emergence in the late 1980s, Daugherty has risen to the top ranks of contemporary American composers. He has written more than 100 works for symphonies, string quartets, percussion, brass and chamber ensembles, opera, symphonic bands, and solo instruments.

To read a Montage profile on Daugherty written by Betsy Goolian, please visit DAUGHERTY PROFILE

To read a National Public Radio story on Daugherty, please visit NPR story, Dec. 10, 2010