The Mozartean Players Chamber Orchestra performs 18th-century music the way it is meant to be performed: With actual instruments from the classical period.

The ensemble, which resides in New York City, will play an all-Mozart concert at 8 p.m. tomorrow in the intimate setting of Schwab Auditorium as the Center for the Performing Arts' Mozart 200 Festival continues.

The concert's first half will include Mozart's Piano Concerto in A Major, K. 414 and his Symphony in A Major, K. 201, while the second half will feature Piano Concerto in F Major, K. 459.

Steven Lubin, conductor and soloist for The Mozartean Players, said he chose these pieces because they are beautiful works. He said the Piano Concerto in F Major, a large-scale piece written relatively late in Mozart's career, is a particular favorite of his.

"In a way, the program represents different times in Mozart's life," Lubin said.

The Mozartean Players use either original instruments constructed in the 18th century or instruments copied from 18th-century models. These instruments better express Mozart's style, and the timbre evokes the period in a special way, Lubin said.

"There is a totally different sound to it," said Bob Cole, classical music director at WPSU. "Modern instruments were made to play brighter and sharper and louder."

It is no longer unusual for groups to use original instruments. Lubin said that in the last 15 years, there has been a movement in America to use instruments of different periods.

Tomorrow's audience will hear a sound quite different from what it is used to hearing, Cole said.

"The playing is much more precise," he said. "You don't have this big blasting, dampening sound. It isn't blurred all together. You can actually pick out the different themes."

Lubin will play the fortepiano for both piano concertos. The fortepiano is different from the modern piano in that it is smaller and contains no metal in its frame. Also, its strings are thinner, and the instrument does not sustain sound as long as a modern piano.

The fortepiano Lubin plays is exactly like the one constructed in 1785 for Mozart.

The Mozartean Players Chamber Orchestra consists of about 20 musicians, but changes in size depending on its repertoire. The group was founded by Lubin in 1978 and made its New York City debut in 1981.

The original core of The Mozartean Players was a piano, violin and cello trio, formed as an ensemble dedicated to the classical period. However, on occasion the ensemble has performed later music on modern instruments. The group often tours the United States and Europe.

Besides his work with The Mozartean Players, Lubin is well-known for his solo performances throughout Europe and North America, including performances at the Mostly Mozart Festival and on a continuing series at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Lubin has made recordings of the five Beethoven concertos with Christopher Hogwood, and was featured in the television series Man and Music, in which he performed works by Mozart and Beethoven in London and Vienna.

"He's a very devoted student of the music of that time," Cole said.

As part of the free lecture series "Artistic Viewpoints," Lubin will discuss Mozart and his work at 7 p.m. tomorrow in Schwab Auditorium.