Another 20th century composer to explore is Peter Mennin. His 3rd symphony, recorded on Delos by Gerard Schwarz and the Seattle Sym., is very melodic and folklike in content. Then there is Virgil Thompson, who was almost as ecletic as Charles Ives in his compositions, but was never boring. There is a good disc of his works on Koch with Sedares and the New Zealand Sym., perhaps now deleted, but maybe still available at Berkshire Record Outlet.
The major problem I see with most contemporary American composers today is a lack of any real style, very little inspiration, and a depressing reliance on serial techniques. While tonal music is capable of expressing the deepest and most profound emotions, serial music is capable of expressing only angst. It's sort of like comparing a single cell created to perform only one function to a human being composed of billions of highly specialized cells designed to perform a myriad of functions. Which organism performs at the more elevated and useful level?
Bob Ward