How sweet the sound in the old home place

Jacaranda, the adventurous Santa Monica-based concert series founded in 2003 by partners Mark Alan Hilt and Patrick Scott, made a triumphant return to its refurbished First Presbyterian Church home Saturday. For nine months, if not exactly wandering in the wilderness, it had been playing in other venues. No wonder Hilt and Scott called the program “Amazing Grace.”

Located about a block from the ocean, First Presbyterian now boasts an enclosed courtyard; new entry doors, pews, carpets and overhead lights; a small balcony; and a scrim that serves as a backdrop for the musicians. The church is airy and comfortable and, according to series producer Scott, the acoustics are much improved.

The smell of paint was still faintly in the air for Saturday’s ambitious program, which enlisted some 27 instrumentalists and the church’s chancel choir, consisting of 16 singers. Cannily devised and fiendishly challenging, the program began with solo piano and shifted between a quartet and larger forces.

The theme of celebration included anniversary tributes to American composers Scott Joplin (1868-1917), Ben Johnston (born 1926), Morton Feldman (1926-88) and Steve Reich (born 1936). Works by Frederic Rzewski and Charles Ives completed the program.

Among the high points was Johnston’s String Quartet No. 4, “Amazing Grace.” Composed in 1974, this roughly 12-minute set of variations on the beloved hymn traces a structure familiar from the Act I Prelude of Wagner’s “Lohengrin.” It begins in the radiant heights and descends to a lower level. But unlike Wagner, Johnston allows the theme to take on an anguished personal voice as it mixes with the muck of the human world, although it always retains its transcendent nature.

This knockout piece got a knock-your-socks-off performance by the Denali Quartet: violinists Sarah Thornblade and Alyssa Park (subbing for Joel Pargman), violist Alma Lisa Fernandez and cellist Timothy Loo. The Denali performs exclusively for the Jacaranda series.

Pianist Scott Dunn, associate conductor of the Pittsburgh Opera, was suave, masterly, insouciant, nostalgic and exuberant in the opening set of four works by Joplin (“Solace, a Mexican Serenade,” “Paragon Rag,” “Bethena, a Concert Waltz” and “Maple Leaf Rag”).

He was absolutely riveting, however, in meeting the infernal rhythmic and expressive demands of Rzewski’s pro-labor “Winnsboro Cotton Mill Blues.”

David Washburn was the strong solo trumpeter in Ives’ uncanny “The Unanswered Question.” Balance problems with the organ muted the choir in Ives’ brief “Processional: Let There Be Light.” But Feldman’s delicate “Between Categories,” for two small ensembles -- each consisting of violin, cello, chimes and piano -- was perfectly balanced.

The Jacaranda musicians had problems playing Reich’s “Music for Mallet, Voices and Organ” at a concert in November, and another Reich score, “Eight Lines,” which closed the program Saturday, ran aground twice before taking off in an understandably cautious performance. Still, Jacaranda is home again, and that’s plenty reason to cheer.

chris.pasles@latimes.com