Sunday's NOVA Chamber Music Series' concert is the first with Jason Hardink as its new artistic director. And since the announcement was made last spring that Hardink was to succeed Corbin Johnston, the transition has been smooth.

Helping to ensure this is the fact that Johnston will perform on today's concert. "I wanted to have Corbin on my first program," Hardink told the Deseret News. "He is a great musician and I wanted to maintain that connection."

Johnston, who will be joined by his colleagues from the Utah Symphony, will play the rarely heard Sextet for Piano and Strings, op. 110, by Felix Mendelssohn.

"The attitude of this piece is like (Schubert's) 'Trout' Quintet," Hardink said. "It's sunny and bright."

Even though the Sextet has a high opus number, it's an early work written when the composer was only 15. But with so many of his youthful pieces, the Sextet exudes maturity. "It's very richly scored," Hardink said. "The strings give it a darker tone, and the piano writing is very brilliant."

As with many of Mendelssohn's chamber works that include piano, the piano part is demanding. "It's almost a concerto."

The program for today's concert is devoted to Mendelssohn and Johann Sebastian Bach, with two of Bach's sonatas (the Gamba Sonata in G minor, BWV 1027 and the Violin Sonata in G major, BWV 1021) alternating with Mendelssohn's Fugue in D minor, a set of "Songs Without Words" for violin and piano and the Andante and Allegro Brillant for piano four hands, op. 92. The Sextet will be the final work on the concert.

The next concert, on Nov. 15, features an all-French program that will include the rarely heard Clarinet Sonata by Camille Saint-Sa?s.

"Toward the end of his life, Saint-Sa?s wrote three woodwind sonatas," Hardink said. "Even though they're from the early 20th century, they represent an older style, but they're heartfelt and incredibly beautiful."

Among the works to be performed after the new year, there will be a newer piece by Jason Eckhardt, "A Glimpse Revisited," for small ensemble. "This will be one of the wildest things audiences will have heard," promised Hardink, who's played a number of Eckhardt's works over the years. "Jason grew up with rock music and that energy translates into his music. It's virtuosity bordering on the hallucinatory."

Hardink is thrilled about the new season. "I feel really good about the programs," he said. "I think the repertoire is balanced with different types of ensembles and player personalities. I think we're making a strong statement this season."