With little more than an array of cellos, composer Clarice Assad portrayed the rise and fall of an entire fictional civilization in a fascinating world premiere having, alas, one major defect, emanating from one seat, back around the eighth row.

In the space of 22 minutes, her “Lemuria” followed the Lemurians from crude beginnings through cultural evolution, developing humble instruments like ocarinas, chanting in rituals, gorgeous sonorities and even dances, then falling victim to thunderstorms and upheaval. Despite the bizarre instrumentation—percussion, 13 cellos and a hodge-podge of voices—the piece was quite a hit before the sold-out audience at the Conservatory of Music.

Even though I’ve studied two instruments and dabbled in three others, as The Wind I’m an abject failure. Assad called for the audience to make wind noises in the work, humming or vocalizing or ooh-aahing, following the broad podium gestures provided by Tanya Tomkins. As a group, the 120 or so packing the SFCM Recital Hall were pretty good playing The Wind. But some out there were really subpar, marring Assad’s inventions. Sorry—my bad. Don’t cast me as The Wind again!

And her inventions were many many. Her cello choir started with random glissandi and gradually crystallized into rich harmonies, the kind you hear in Bachianas Brasileiras #5 (by another Brazilian, Villa-Lobos), ultimately with the cellists chanting and singing haphazardly while playing.

Assad’s talent is considerable, as attested by her multiple commissions (one of them from the Cabrillo Music Festival Santa Cruz).

This Left Coast Chamber Ensemble under Matilda Hofman’s baton fared well; most of the time, the massed cellos managed to stay out of treble.

This LCCE concert focused on nature and on cellos. The rest Jan. 14 brought on more intimate journeys—solos and duets. Kurt Rohde’s “credo petrified” took a wild ride trough the cello world, working to portray sonically what occurs to form a petrified forest. The many disjoint sounds, requiring formidable technique, showed both the harmony and dissonance in nature, starting with tones that can only be described as glacial.

George Crumb’s “Mundus Canis” offered jocular portraits of his five dogs, while Evan House’s “Fields” offered a virtuoso tour for percussionist Loren Mach, with his quartet of mallets flying faster than the eye could see. For contrast, Tanya Topkins delved back close to 300 years in an ineffably expressive reading of the G Major Bach Unaccompanied Cello Suite, using a supple baroque bow.

MUSIC NOTES—The Brazilian-American composer Assad, 40, comes from the kind of super-musical family rarely seen since the Baroque era. It includes her father guitarist Sergio Assad, her uncle guitarist Odair Assad, and her aunt, singer songwriter Badi Assad. Clarice Assad has performed professionally since the age of seven….Among the notables attending the sold-out Jan.14 concert was Carol Christ, the Berkeley chancellor seemingly working a 25-hours-a-day schedule. She is also board secretary for the LCCE, a new-and-old-music group founded here in 1992.

LCCE’s “Sound of Nature” program, heard Jan. 14 at S.F. Conservatory of Music’s Recital Hall, repeating Jan. 19 at Hertz Hall, Berkeley. For info: (415) 617-5223, or go online.