As Princeton University Orchestra conductor Michael Pratt explained in his concert remarks, at first glance the four works performed this past weekend by the orchestra would seem unrelated to one another. Beethoven, Gershwin, and Stravinsky, combined with Princeton University composer Juri Seo, sounded like a set of pieces without a common thread, but conductor Pratt and the musicians of the orchestra found a way to allow four diverse works to speak to one another as well as the audience. Friday night’s University Orchestra performance at Richardson Auditorium (the concert was also presented last Thursday night) featured tight ensemble playing, elegant instrumental solo work, and a display of both compositional creativity and keyboard virtuosity from a composer who premiered her own concerto.

The world premiere of Juri Seo’s piano concerto was a cornerstone of this concert, but the orchestra warmed up to it through Ludwig van Beethoven’s Coriolan Overture, Op. 62. Seo’s concerto was Classical in structure, with plenty of Beethoven-esque charm and lyricism. The orchestra began the Coriolan Overture decisively, with a light but dramatic opening theme (Juri Seo also incorporated some of this melodic material into her piano concerto). Thematic passages were cleanly played by violas and celli, and the violins were always lean. Aided by a crisp pair of trumpets, Mr. Pratt took a more lyrical then overly-dramatic approach to the overture, that culminated in a very delicate pizzicato to close the piece.

Juri Seo opened her own piano concerto with a flourish from the keyboard, well matched by brass and percussion. Mr. Pratt wisely let Ms. Seo play on her own for extended passages, keeping the orchestra at the ready for the next entrance. The second movement in particular was unique in its featuring of three solo instruments: Ms. Seo on piano, Nitish Jindal playing percussion, and double bassist Christopher Perron. Mr. Pratt kept the orchestra well in line through lengthy passages in 5/4 meter, and Ms. Seo closed the movement with a thoughtful piano cadenza — another nod to a late 18th-century musical tradition. In this concerto, Ms. Seo proved herself to be a composer of her surroundings, incorporating Princeton University’s alma mater anthem “Old Nassau” into the music. Ms. Seo paid another tribute to the past by setting “Old Nassau” as a chorale for the orchestra, much in the way composers have often incorporated popular tunes from the day into their music. Graceful instrumental solos were heard throughout the concerto, including oboist Lia Hankla and clarinetist Brian Kang.

The Gershwin and Stravinsky works presented in the second half of the program were connected by their use of folk music and indigenous musical idioms. George Gershwin’s opera Porgy and Bess incorporated folksong, spiritual, and jazz styles, and although the opera was not overly popular in its day, it has since become a standard. In 1942, Robert Russell Bennett, one of America’s great musical arrangers, compiled much of its music into A Symphonic Picture, featuring a number of the great tunes from the opera while retaining Gershwin’s jazz and American flavors.

Mr. Pratt increased the orchestra’s size considerably for the Gershwin and Stravinsky works, fulfilling Bennett’s scoring for bass clarinet, banjo, saxophone, and other instruments not always heard in orchestral concerts. Mr. Pratt took a relaxed tempo approach to Porgy and Bess: A Symphonic Picture, at times evoking a lazy day in the deep South. Throughout the work, English horn player Tiffany Huang provided smooth melodies, complemented by jazz passages played by saxophone player Daniel Wood, a musical twang from Harrison Waldon’s banjo playing, and crisp playing from trumpeter Henry Whitaker. A good pair of oboes led by Ann-Elise Siden was especially effective, often joined by clarinetist Brian Kang and flutist Nicole Ozdowski. Throughout the work, Mr. Pratt made sure the piece had plenty of swing, allowing the familiar tunes to emerge from the orchestral palette.

To close the program, Mr. Pratt began Stravinsky’s Firebird Suite (in its 1919 version) subtly in the celli and pizzicato double basses, and the music effectively climbed out of the lower strings into the rest of the orchestral ensemble. The Firebird effect was created by flutes and piccolo, contrasted with sweet melodies from oboist Ms. Huang and English hornist Ethan Petno. While the “Round Dance of the Princesses” was graceful, the orchestra made sure to bring the audience to life with the “Infernal Dance of Kastcheï.” The “Berceuse” lullaby featured elegant winds, including bassoonist Emily De Jong, and the performance closed with crisp overall playing from the orchestra.