Three Peruvian-inspired works received their first performances by the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra in a trans-Americas program full of novel repertoire. And a quintessentially American second half capped the diverse program.

Charles Ives, one of the most distinctive voices in American music, is grossly underrepresented on orchestra programs. So it was a delight to hear his Symphony No. 3, "The Camp Meeting." Deeply programmatic, Ives uses popular songs and familiar hymns to evoke the outdoor revival meetings of his Massachusetts youth.

Conductor Miguel Harth-Bedoya led a performance that captured all of the work's quirkiness as well as its deeply felt nostalgia.

George Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue" for Piano and Jazz Band was less successful. Done in the original arrangement, the version recreated the clarity and edginess of the first performance. But pianist Terrence Wilson was overly quixotic and indulgent in his handling of the improvisatory-sounding solos. The SPCO's warm jazz rendition was the highlight.

Wilson began with a piece from "La Tombeau de Liberace" by Michael Daugherty. While capturing the flamboyance of its namesake, the brief movement was more flashy than substantive. The performance also felt overly mannered.

Spanish-born Baltasar Martínez y Compañon was a contemporary of Mozart, and the indigenous Peruvian music he gathered demonstrated that not all great music of the Classical period came from Europe. "Coleccion de Música Virreinal," collected around 1785, sounded like a late-Baroque serenade, but with a Latin flair, including the use of native drums and maracas. It proved a rollicking good time.

The "Elegía Andina (Andean Elegy)" for Orchestra by American Gabriela Lena Frank betrayed her Peruvian ancestry. She also collected indigenous melodies but funneled them through a contemporary aesthetic. Her ability to make wind instruments sound like panflutes added color to the often dense chordal structures. This was truly evocative and moving music.

Peruvian Jimmy Lopez's "Fiesta!" for Chamber Orchestra was commissioned by Harth-Bedoya. Based on contemporary dance rhythms, this sophisticated composition sounded more eclectic and cosmopolitan than rooted in any one tradition.

Harth-Bedoya conducted often without a score, but always with real passion and commitment. The instrumentalists responded with equally impassioned playing, making for an extremely engaging event.

William Randall Beard is a Minneapolis writer.