It’s not often the viola gets the spotlight. The alto voice in the string family is most often used to provide harmonic underpinnings and rhythmic structure while other instruments get the showy, hummable passages. But Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Jennifer Higdon maintains the viola is a virtuosic instrument in its own right that deserves to be heard front and center.

When Higdon was commissioned by a group of institutions, including the Nashville Symphony, to write a viola concerto, the first thing she did was to examine the handful of existing works in the genre. She says most of what she found took a cue from the instrument’s dark, rich tone by leaning towards an emotional darkness. Higdon frankly calls many of them depressing. “So I decided to write something that was kind of up, a more positive kind of piece,” Higdon says. She tried to create a very American concerto, with a touch of jazz-inspired swing. The composer laughs warmly as she describes the piece as “more of a positive, ‘let’s go viola!’ kind of sound.”

At first glance, a contemporary, jazz-infused concerto may seem an odd choice for a commission designed to highlight a very old instrument: a rare Stradivarius, made in Italy in 1690 and now on long term loan to the Library of Congress. But the current owner is an advocate for new music. The groups that pooled together to fund the commission formed a coalition of American institutions (the Library of Congress, Aspen Music Festival and the Curtis Institute, along with the Nashville Symphony). And while Nashville audiences will hear the concerto played on that Stradivarius this weekend, the music needs to have a life of its own no matter who is playing it, or on which instrument.

The performances here by violist Roberto Diaz on that valuable, centuries-old viola will set the standard by which the concerto is known. The Nashville Symphony is recording this weekend’s shows for release on a future album. That, Higdon says, may be the key to finding a life for the music in concert halls around the country.

“The reality is if you can get a recording of it, other violists will buy this disc and get to know this piece.” Higdon says there’s a marked difference in her ability to secure performances for music that’s been recorded compared to those that haven’t. “I tell you, these days, it’s everything.”

Higdon says she feels like her music is in good hands with the Nashville Symphony providing that initial recording. Her working relationship with conductor Giancarlo Guerrero goes back more than a decade, including premieres of his work that he directed in Minnesota and Washington, D.C. Higdon says she’s been a fan of the orchestra’s technical ability and willingness to play new music that “others are not brave enough” to approach. What’s more, she says having her music played in Tennessee feels like a homecoming; Higdon spent much of her childhood and adolescence in a town near Knoxville.

Audience members may hear influences of East Tennessee in the other Higdon work on this weekend’s program. All Things Majestic was written to commemorate the 100^th anniversary of the National Park System, and Higdon says the Great Smokey Mountains were definitely on her mind as she wrote the music.