This album was nominated for the 2005 Grammy Award for "Best Classical Album," and "Best Orchestral Performance," and "Best Classical Contemporary Composition." It received a 2005 Grammy Award for "Best Engineered Album, Classical."
　　Jennifer Higdon's Concerto for Orchestra is a crowd-pleasing opus, a high-powered musical vehicle that takes the listener on a kaleidoscopic adventure. Though Higdon wields a broad tonal palette and demonstrates a remarkable affinity for expressive orchestral writing, there's tremendous intelligence and discipline in her approach, no doubt influenced by her studies with Ned Rorem and George Crumb. This gives her work a focus that raises it high above the level of mere flashiness. Each of the concerto's five movements could stand on its own as a tour de force, but much of the work's strength lies in its overall natural symmetry, as in the fourth movement's rollicking percussion party, which leads directly into an exhilarating rush to the dynamic conclusion. Robert Spano and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra take on the challenges of this demanding score with an enthusiasm that results in a breathtakingly virtuosic performance.
　　"City Scape" pays homage to Atlanta, where the composer spent most of her childhood, its three movements each painting a musical portrait of the divergent qualities that make up the city's personality. "Skyline" is a study in metropolitan sophistication, while "river sings a song to trees" evokes Atlanta's natural beauty, and "Peachtree Street" celebrates its vitality. Here again, Spano and the orchestra prove to be eloquent interpreters of Higdon's vibrant musical vernacular.