New London -- A jam-packed Garde Arts Center helped usher in a new season of the Eastern Connecticut Symphony Orchestra on Saturday night as music director Toshiyuki Shimada celebrated the start of his 15th season with the ECSO by programming what he called several “ambitious but glorious” pieces.

Shimada’s night started with him being presented a key to the city by Mayor Mike Passero, who noted that about 15% of the patrons at the concert were first timers at the Garde.

“I accept this on behalf of the musicians of this great orchestra,” Shimada said with a smile. “Without them, I wouldn’t be here.”

Shimada then proceeded to conduct a stunning program of lush and difficult pieces full of tempo changes and dynamic ebbs and flows that he held together with his impeccable sense of timing and emphatic cues.

The headlining event of the evening, Saint-Saens’ Symphony No. 3, also known as the “Organ Symphony,” was a tour de force saved for the end of the concert, with Simon Holt, known locally for directing the Salt Marsh Opera in Stonington, as the soloist. The orchestration is large and powerful, and on this night numbered about 70 musicians packed on stage, including two harps, six double basses and a keyboard in addition to the organ.

The brooding symphony with an initial four-note theme is full of exciting moments featuring the brass at full throttle, but there are more reflective moments as well punctuated by gorgeous oboe solos. And of course there were times when the organ was called on to dominate, although the instrument on this night did not seem to be able to generate the sonic oomph required -- not the fault of the soloist, but seeming to be a technical glitch.

Still, the overall effect of the piece was powerful and resonant, reflective of the majestic control exerted by Shimada. It ended with a bang thanks to perfect timing of the bass drum, cymbal and kettle drum as the crowd let out an appreciative roar.

But perhaps the highlight of the night had occurred earlier with the performance of Aaron Copland’s “The Tender Land Suite,” which grew out of a 1954 coming-of-age opera that flopped but nevertheless contained beautiful melodies. In this piece, Shimada took an almost impossibly slow tempo at the start that brought out its sweet and intricate layers, contrasting with the more dramatic sections later on where he upped the tempo to breakneck speeds.

Also featured in the first half was Richard Strauss’s Der Rosenkavalier Suite, Op. 59, a wild circus ride of a piece taken from his famous 1911 opera that is interspersed with sumptuous waltz music highlighting its romantic undertones. The ECSO played the waltzes to the hilt, as Shimada joyously encouraged every nuance by swaying to the score.

The string section was particular strong in showing a stark contrast between the legato bowing of the piece’s more reflective moments and the more angular digging required of the dance sections. The exciting conclusion included the use of a percussion instrument called a ratchet that literally ratcheted up the excitement level as Strauss’s sometimes dreamy concoction rollicked to its stormy conclusion.

The concert also included the traditional playing of the national anthem, this time featuring a scoring by Igor Stravinsky that was certainly non-traditional in its use of dissonance, a fact that apparently landed the composer in hot water when it premiered in Boston many years ago.

There was also a brief tidbit from the beginning of Strauss’s “Also Sprach Zarathustra,” the theme from the film “2001: A Space Odyssey,” which the ECSO played with bravado, tipping its hat to what proved to be a magnificent evening of music.

l.howard@theday.com