Not long ago in these pages, the name Jane Barsumian came onto our radar with a small-ensemble performance by the Musical Society of Kingston of her composition with the whimsical title of Bass Fishing Expedition Using a Cello and Two Violas for Bait. Now Barsumian’s back with the world premiere of her latest work, Scattered Stars. It’s her first composition for full chamber orchestra, and the estimable Woodstock Chamber Orchestra (WCO) under the baton of David Leighton will attempt to do it justice in three local venues next weekend.

A resident of the Hudson Valley for 33 years, Jane Barsumian is well-known locally for her remarkable skills as violinist, pianist, organist, vocalist and composer. She was born into a musical family: Her father was a concert violinist, composer and conductor, her mother a church organist for 75 years. She has studied piano with Frank McConnell, Edgar Roberts and Antoinette Lind, violin with Norman Black of the Philadelphia Orchestra and Henk Schram of the Concertgebouw Orchestra and composition with Grammy-winning composer Joan Tower.

For the 2002 Woodstock Cycle, Barsumian composed music and text for the cantata Healing. She is the 2006 winner of the Hymn Competition of the Eastern North Carolina Religious Arts Festival, and has written service music for the Episcopal Church. Although contemporary, her style has been described as charming, witty and beautiful.

These final concerts of WCO’s 2010/11 season will take place at 8 p.m. on Friday, April 29 at Olin Hall at Bard College in Annandale; at 8 p.m. on Saturday, April 30 at Pointe of Praise Family Life Center, located at 243 Hurley Avenue in Kingston; and at 3 p.m. on Sunday, May 1 at Saugerties Reformed Church on Main Street in Saugerties. Besides the premiere of Scattered Stars, the program will also include Respighi’s Ancient Airs and Dances Suite No. 1, the Adagietto from the Mahler’s Symphony No. 5, Dvorak’s Czech Suite and the Overture to Vaughan Williams’ The Wasps.

Ticket prices are $20 general admission, $5 for college students and free for kids in grades K through 12 with accompanying adult. For more information, call (845) 758-9270 or visit the WCO website at www.wco-online.com.