The Rhode Island Philharmonic turned to American music last night at Veterans Memorial Auditorium, but almost all the selections plowed new ground for the orchestra. Only Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue turned up on past Philharmonic programs. Otherwise the concert was a succession of premieres.

Out of the offerings, the most intriguing was from Charles Ives, who conductor Larry Rachleff called the grandfather of American music. Ives’ Three Places in New England was composed about a century ago, yet of all the pieces on the program it was the most jarring, the most forward-looking. Ives, a native of Danbury, Conn., was an insurance executive by day and a misunderstood composer on weekends. His music combined hymns, marches and folk songs with a wash of harmonic dissonance.

He began sketching Three Places in 1903 and began combining the material in 1912, making for an 18-minute pastiche that blends impressions of the Civil War with a Fourth of July picnic and hues of summer along the banks of the Housatonic River.

It opens with foggy harmonies and solo tunes, then gives way to a series of marches. At one point, Ives created the impression of two bands passing one another, playing different tunes in different keys. That drew hoots and chuckles from the audience when it was over.

It’s an ingenious piece that Rachleff called “inventive, daring, crazy and goofy.”

The other premiere offerings of the night were Samuel Barber’s Symphony No. 1 in One Movement, and the I Got Rhythm Variations, with pianist Terrence Wilson in the solo role.

Wilson, a Bronx native who went to Juilliard, made his Philharmonic debut last season, stepping in at the last moment for opening night. He was brilliant then and brilliant again last night. The I Got Rhythm Variations sizzled, but it was the Rhapsody that stood out, for its pliant tempos and jazzy phrasing. Wilson was not afraid to take his time setting up ideas, and his passage work was glittering.

Clarinetist Ian Greitzer deserves a hand for his bluesy clarinet intro.

Coming into the concert I was thinking I would have rather heard something other than the popular Gershwin Rhapsody, maybe the composer’s Concerto in F. But Wilson, and Rachleff’s command of the orchestra, made this chestnut sound fresh.

The Barber, which is rarely performed, made a fitting ending to the night. The piece is bold and powerful, with some lovely tunes in the slow section. While the piece is cast in one movement, it is really broken up into four parts, with an impassioned opening, a frantic scherzo, the tuneful andante and a rousing finale.

Rachleff and the orchestra nailed the score, tossing off the music with lots of energy and conviction. The strings sounded especially lush and Cheryl Bishkoff’s oboe glowed in the slow section.