The Pennsylvania Centre Orchestra (PCO) will present its annual Up Close and Personal concert at 3 p.m. Sunday at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, 780 Waupelani Drive.

This performance will feature the music of composers Witold Lutoslawski, Maurice Ravel and Joseph Rheinberger.

PCO's nine principal orchestra players, known as a nonet, will be showcased in an intimate fashion and will be performing as chamber music soloists.

This weekend's concert will also take place in a smaller venue than PCO's usual performances.

"The audience gets a chance to sit close to the musicians," Douglas Meyer, the orchestra's music director, said. "It is more of a chamber setting, which contrasts the usual orchestra [setting]."

This concert usually gathers a full house because of the intimate relationship with the performers and the audience, Meyer said.

The show is composed of five woodwinds and four stringed instruments. Several Penn State faculty members make up the nonet, most of whom have been involved with the PCO since its start in 1991.

One of the players is Robert Nairn, who teaches double bass at Penn State.

"The nonet was popular in the early 19th century," Nairn said. "It faded out, but a lot of pieces have been rediscovered."

Meyer also discussed the significance of that century.

"Some of the most beautiful music comes from this time period," Meyer said.

Included in this concert are several works by Rheinberger, Lutoslawski's Dance Preludes and Ravel's Mother Goose Suite, which was first performed in France in 1912. Several infrequently performed pieces for strings and winds will also be highlighted.

Megan Keeley (junior-music education) said she has gone to a PCO concert in the past and enjoyed it.

She said she knows some previous PCO performers.

"It's a good idea getting faculty [to perform]," Keeley said. "It helps get them involved with the community and show people what's going on."

Meyer agreed that the intimacy of the show helps the audience to relax in addition to its being involved in the music.

"The world needs beauty, culture and distractions from major problems," Meyer said. "It's a chance for the audience to get away from the everyday and sit quietly."

Tickets are available at the door, and are $19 for adults, $17 for seniors and $6 for students and children.

Tickets may be purchased at the Robert M. Sides Family Music Centers, 1801 N. Atherton St., Moyer Jewelers, 100 E. College Ave., and Barnes and Noble, 365 Benner Pike, or by calling 234-8313.