UTAH SYMPHONY, Abravanel Hall, March 8; second performance 8 p.m., March 9, tickets at 801-355-2787, 888-451-2787, www.utahsymphony.org  

This weekend’s Utah Symphony program is a hodge podge of works, a receptacle for pieces that didn’t fit in anywhere else this season. It’s an everything-but-the-kitchen-sink kind of program.

The good thing about this weekend’s program is that guest conductor Andrew Grams is on the podium. The young American showed a lot of promise when he conducted the symphony on two previous occasions and he has certainly lived up to his potential. He didn’t disappoint at Friday’s performance.

Grams brings a lot to the table. He has a solid grasp of the music he conducts; his direction is precise and articulate; and he elicits nuanced playing from the orchestra. He is everything anyone could want in a conductor. And he was the right choice for this weekend’s mix-and-match program.

The program included Igor Stravinsky’s ballet Jeu de cartes. It’s a tricky score because of its rhythmic complexities and intricate instrumental interplay, but the orchestra acquitted itself wonderfully. It played with precision and cleanly executed articulation. And Grams’ direction brought balance and cohesiveness to the performance.

Also on the program was Aaron Copland’s ballet Appalachian Spring, in his arrangement for full orchestra. Originally scored for 13 instruments, the music loses much of its transparency and becomes a bit muddled in this reorchestration. However, to Grams’ credit, the reading was lucid and nuanced. It was nicely textured and the orchestra played with clean lines and well delineated phrasings.

The concert opened with a delightful perusal of the ballet music from Charles Gounod’s opera Faust and closed with a vivacious reading of George Gershwin’s An American in Paris.