All told, this concert in Ruth Taylor Concert Hall was the strongest showing by San Antonio composers in recent — or extended — memory.

The excellent Olmos Ensemble helped William James Ross, chapel master at First Unitarian-Universalist Church, unveil his Woodwind Quintet No. 3.

Attractively neoclassical in style, with consistently lively counterpoint, robust melodies and rich, mildly astringent harmonies, the piece bristles with good ideas, all intelligently developed. The witty finale is especially delightful, but the whole piece is music to please the ears and stimulate the mind.

Also new was Elisenda Fabregas' song cycle "Five Musings From the Past," to the composer's own poems of youthfully tempestuous love and desire. The songs have a distinct Catalonian character — Fabregas is a native of Barcelona, Spain — and hold nothing back in the expression of intense feelings.

Soprano Rachel Rosales, for whom the set was composed, made a very impressive showing both interpretively and vocally, especially in her dark low register, where the soul of these songs resides.

From Ken Metz of the University of the Incarnate Word came five of six movements from "Goretti Elegies" for Brass Quintet, a tribute to the late Sister Maria Goretti-Zehr. The music is conservative, melodic and sincere, with some attractive moments, but excessively verbose.

Misook Kim, also of UIW, made a strong impression with her Seven Little Pieces for Piano and Flute, from 1993, handsomely performed by flutist Jean Robinson and the composer at the piano.

Each of the pieces is terse — measured in seconds rather than minutes — but fully formed and carefully balanced in structure. Some are deliciously playful, some pensive or nervous. An inherent lyricism invites the listener to join Kim's exploration of the boundary between anchored and free tonality.

From David Heuser of UTSA came the harrowing "Cuchalainn's Warp-Spasm," a 2001 piece for live spoken voice, electronic tape and digital effects processors. The spoken text, from a bloody Irish epic, is digitally processed with echo effects and distortion during performance. The speaker, Moumin Quazi, must have been unflappable to get through it.

Technical details aside, the piece is just plain compelling. It fully and effectively conveys the dark, violent, monstrous atmosphere of the text, and it's like nothing you've heard before.

Timothy Kramer of Trinity opened the concert by conducting his exhilarating "Mimetic Variations" for pairs of oboes, clarinets, horns and bassoons. Rhythmically complex and sometimes eccentric, with roots in Stravinsky's neoclassicism, this music has a wonderful driving energy — a drive with plenty of curves and varied scenery along the way.

mgreenberg@express-news.net