Each year, the Princeton University Orchestra holds a concerto competition, allowing student performers to select their own repertoire and challenge themselves for a chance to perform with the orchestra. Some students might play it safe and choose music of the old masters, but not this year’s winners. Soprano Solène Le Van, violinist Jessie Chen, and pianist Evan Chow selected works of the 20th and 21st centuries, showing musical diversity and a deep range of curiosity. Led by conductor Michael Pratt, the University Orchestra presented these three winners this past weekend in Richardson Auditorium.

Sophomore Solène Le Van has a huge resume of performing credits already, as both violinist and singer. Her artistic interests are broad, and her performance of “Glitter and Be Gay” from Leonard Bernstein’s Candide in Friday night’s concert brought together her talents in singing, acting, and the ability to play a character with a seemingly split dramatic personality. As a composer, Leonard Bernstein pushed the boundaries of musical theater, infusing classical literature with the social and political climate of contemporary times to create a musical work. Candide was a collaboration between Bernstein and writer Lillian Hellman, with subtle critical references to Cold War McCarthyism. The contrasts within its story make the arias within in that much more difficult for the performer.

Ms. Le Van came to life immediately in “Glitter and Be Gay,” with a rich vocal tone in the more dramatic sections and a saucy coloratura in contrasting passages. The breath and diaphragmatic control required in the closing section were extremely demanding, and Ms. Le Van had no trouble maneuvering the syncopated rhythms with the orchestra. Several instrumental soloists provided graceful accompaniment, including English hornist Ann-Elise Siden, flutist Bruno Shaffa, and violinist Dana Ramirez.

Violinist Jessie Chen has been a mainstay of the orchestra’s violin section throughout his time at Princeton. For his competition piece, Mr. Chen looked to music of Erich Wolfgang Korngold, who spent much of his American career writing film scores. Korngold’s 1945 Violin Concerto, Op. 35 draws from a number of his film scores, and Mr. Chen succeeded well in creating dramatic character out of the solo line.

The Violin Concerto’s roots in film music were evident from the start, as Mr. Pratt and the orchestra began the opening movement with a rich and spacious orchestral atmosphere. The movement was marked “Moderato nobile,” and Mr. Pratt put an emphasis on the “noble” character of the music. Accompanied by the lush instrumental palette and elegant solos by horn player Allison Halter and oboist Lia Hankla, Mr. Chen was a forceful soloist. The varied themes of this movement contrasted with the serene melody of the second movement “Romanze,” as Mr. Chen’s solo line was elegantly answered by harp and bass clarinet.

Pianist Evan Chow took the diversity of this concert’s repertoire a step further into the avant-garde with the 1973 Piano Concerto No. 2 of Nikolai Kapustin, a currently living composer originally from Ukraine. Fusing classical elements with jazz, this concerto demonstrated Kapustin’s lifelong fascination with the American genre of jazz, even while growing up in a region where jazz was censored.

Mr. Chow has been playing classical and jazz piano for most of his life, with an impressive list of competition achievements and a scholarly history with Mr. Kapustin. Mr. Chow was a very unassuming soloist, letting his virtuosic piano abilities speak for themselves. He communicated well with the jazz combo which was part of the accompaniment, while Mr. Pratt led the orchestra in music which ranged from Gershwin-like to big band to contemporary classical. Although the piano was hard to hear at times, it was clear that Mr. Chow’s fingers were flying across the keyboard in a very complex and fluid piano part. Mr. Chow effectively led the musical action in the third movement, providing almost continuous motion to close the work.

Mr. Pratt and the orchestra returned to the masters for the closing work on the concert, presenting a solid and elegant performance of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7. With a large ensemble on stage, Mr. Pratt maintained the delicate textures and tempi of the work, building to a full sound but with clarity. The familiar second movement “Allegretto” was played with a slow build in intensity and contrasts in dynamics. The orchestra closed the symphony well with a fourth movement marked by exacting timpani and nicely gauged crescendi.

This University Orchestra concert was the first in its history to be live streamed, not only allowing Mr. Kapustin to hear this second American performance of his piano concerto but also enabling parents of the students in the orchestra to hear the concert. With the repertoire and technology of this concert, the orchestra showed itself thoroughly capable of keeping up with the 21st century.