David Commanday is finding his stint as a Carmel Symphony Orchestra guest conductor to be an enjoyable experience.

“The first concert was a great pleasure to prepare and perform with the musicians,” Commanday said. “I think we really hit it off. I love the (concert) hall and I’m really impressed with the town.”

Commanday returns as guest conductor for the third time for Carmel Symphony Orchestra, which will present its Masterworks 2 concert at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 11 at the Palladium at the Center for the Performing Arts in Carmel. Commanday first served as guest conductor Oct. 7 as Janna Hymes’ resignation as artistic director was announced that day. Hymes resigned to concentrate on her new position as leading the orchestra in Sonoma, Ariz. Commanday then returned Oct. 22 to conduct the Gershwin Kids concert.

Commanday, based in Peoria, Ill., is the conductor of Heartland Festival Orchestra. He served as music director of the Peoria Symphony Orchestra from 1990 to 2009.

“(Masterworks 2) iss opening with a piece by Valerie Coleman, an African American composer and performing flutist of real distinction,” Commanday said.

Coleman’s piece is “Umoja, Anthem of Unity,” which she wrote for the wind quintet she played in.

“Later, she was asked by the Philadelphia Orchestra to orchestrate it for full orchestra,” Commanday said. “That’s the first time that orchestra played a piece by an African American woman composer. It’s brilliantly orchestrated and a very beautiful piece. The concert, in my opinion, is about diversity and unity.”

This is the first time Commanday has conducted the piece but he is quite familiar with the other three pieces on the program.

Maurice Ravel’s “Le Tombeau de Couperin” is next in the concert.

“At first, it’s not clear how it fits in with Veterans Day and the United States,” Commanday said. “Tombeau means memorial and Couperin was a French composer. The fact is, Ravel is a veteran who wanted to serve in the first World War and was disqualified on medical grounds. In order to serve, he became a medical assistant and drove an ambulance.”

Commanday said Ravel wrote the piece on the piano between 1914 and 1917. When Ravel decided to orchestrate it, he dedicated each of the movements to a friend who died in World War I.

“So, it is kind of a tribute to veterans and their sacrifices,” Commanday said.

Charles Ives’ “Variations of America” is the third piece. Ives wrote it when he was 17.

“He wrote a tough pedal part,” Commanday said. “Playing the pedal is almost as much fun as playing baseball.”

Commanday said Ives was an insurance man with a refreshing personality.

“He liked the idea of simultaneous things happening that are disconnected,” Commanday said.

Commanday said there are a couple of moments where two different keys are happening at the same time in “Variations of America.”

“I consider it a patriotic and celebratory type of thing,” he said.

The final piece is William Grant Still’s “Afro American Symphony No. 1.” It was the first symphony by a Black composer to be performed by a major orchestra. Commanday said in 1930 it became the most performed symphony.

“This is a piece I’ve had the pleasure of performing a couple of times,” Commanday said. “William Grant Still was classically trained as a composer and musician. In this piece, he incorporates themes from jazz, specifically blues. He included that as a celebration of his roots. It’s a symphony that takes the audience on a journey through in four movements. He also includes the sound of the banjo, which is an American instrument.”

Commanday said jazz itself is an infusion of West African influences and European classical music.

“This is a fun symphony with a lot of heart in it,” he said.

J’lan Stewart, from Kokomo, will be featured in the program as a guest soloist. Stewart was one of 40 national finalists in the Songbook Academy summer intensive program in July.

For more, visit carmelsymphony.org.