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The NOVA Chamber Music Series opens its season Sunday afternoon with a big show, at least in chamber-music terms. Utah Symphony veteran Caitlyn Valovick Moore will give the world premiere of "Fool is hurt," a piccolo concerto written for her by British composer Simon Holt; Utah Symphony music director Thierry Fischer will conduct the 10-member accompanying ensemble. The concert also includes music of Johannes Brahms featuring two of the state's leading choral organizations, the Madeleine Choir School and Utah Chamber Artists.

Valovick Moore said she was impressed by Holt's writing for piccolo, particularly when the Utah Symphony premiered his "Ellsworth 2" on the 2012-13 season. "It's great to come across composers who write well for the instrument and aren't afraid of it," said the musician, who joined the Utah Symphony in 2008. "I ran into him in the music library and said, 'You should write a piece for piccolo.' "

NOVA co-commissioned the piece with the London Sinfonietta, which will give "Fool is hurt" its European premiere next month with Fischer conducting.

There's a loose narrative running through the 15-minute concerto, which takes its title from a scene in Federico Fellini's film "La Strada." Its four movements are titled "A Fool dancing," "entr'acte," "Somnambular Fool" and "Fool's ghost."

"All the movements have fast tempos," Valovick Moore said, though the sleepwalking episode of the third movement is "kind of like a slower waltz. My part is not loud — until it is." Once again, the composer's understanding of the instrument has impressed her. "It's written thoughtfully throughout the whole range, and it's very challenging," she said. Playing the high-pitched instrument can be a bit of a tightrope walk because "it's such a present instrument; you're always going to be heard." (Holt's score pits the soloist against mostly low-pitched instruments — tuba, contrabassoon, English horn, harp, violin, viola, cello, string bass and a pair of percussionists.) Noting that there aren't many solo vehicles for piccolo, she said, "It's kind of terrific to be able to say, 'Here's another one.' " She looks forward to showing listeners what a beautiful, melodic instrument the piccolo can be.

NOVA artistic director Jason Hardink said he's happy for another opportunity to showcase a member of the Utah Symphony's flute section; Mercedes Smith and Lisa Byrnes have been featured on the past two NOVA seasons. He also believes the music of Holt will be a good foil for the early works of Johannes Brahms that make up the rest of Sunday's concert.

Fischer will conduct two of those works — "Begräbnisgesang," or "Burial Song," a "7-minute gem" featuring the singers of Utah Chamber Artists; and the composer's four Opus 17 songs, with choristers from the Madeleine Choir School.

"Two choirs on a chamber-music concert is pretty ambitious," Hardink said, though he pointed out that the instrumentation — harp and two horns on Opus 17; 13 instruments on "Begräbnisgesang" — still falls squarely within the realm of chamber music. A traditional chamber-music piece, Brahms' G Minor Piano Quartet, rounds out the program.

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Coming up • Hardink listed highlights of the remaining five programs on the NOVA season:

• An all-French program, including the original chamber version of Saint-Saëns' "Carnival of the Animals," music for solo electric guitar and an appearance by new Utah Symphony concertmaster Madeline Adkins, Dec. 4. "We're pitting standard works against an element of musical counterculture," Hardink said.

• A Palestrina Mass sung by the Cantorum Chamber Choir, Strauss songs sung by soprano Celena Shafer and a recently discovered arrangement of Chausson's "Poème" featuring former Utah Symphony concertmaster Ralph Matson, Jan. 15. "Her solos in Mahler 8 just blew my mind," Hardink said of Shafer's performance with the Utah Symphony and Mormon Tabernacle Choir last year. "I said, 'Let's do something else from that era.' "

• Music of Charles Ives and like-minded composers, Feb. 12. Featured artists include pianist Brian Connelly, Brigham Young University violin professor Alex Woods, and principal Mormon Tabernacle organist Richard Elliott, who will play "a very wild, funny piece" by William Bolcom.

• Works of Robert Schumann juxtaposed with works of BYU composer Christian Asplund, March 5. "It's kind of hip, avant-garde jazz rock" that inhabits "the gray area between classical and popular music," Hardink said of Asplund's work with the Avant GawRage ensemble.

• A showdown between virtuoso violinists and violists, performing Paganini caprices, Bartók duos and a new work by Eric Wubbels, April 23. —

New at NOVA

The NOVA Chamber Music Series presents the world premiere of Simon Holt's "Fool is hurt," a piccolo concerto featuring the Utah Symphony's Caitlyn Valovick Moore as soloist.

With • Conductor Thierry Fischer, choristers from the Madeleine Choir School and Utah Chamber Artists

When • Sunday, Nov. 6, 3 p.m.

Where • Libby Gardner Concert Hall, 1375 E. Presidents Circle, Salt Lake City

Tickets • $20; $18 for seniors and free for students; season tickets (six concerts), $92 general and $80 for seniors; novaslc.org