A family that plays together stays together, but this weekend, Clara Lyon will be performing on her own in Centre County.

Lyon describes growing up in a house where most of the visitors were musical, a major factor in her chosen career path.

"Support is always important," she said.

A violin soloist that has performed with the likes of the Pennsylvania Centre Orchestra and the Nittany Valley Symphony, she'll return to State College with a recital for the upcoming Winterfest Music Series.

Lyon, the daughter of a Penn State professor of violin, will be performing pieces by Brahms, Saraste, Strauss and Ysaye, among others. Nana Shi, a chamber pianist, will also accompany her.

Both musicians will perform at 3 p.m. Sunday at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Centre County, 780 Waupelani Drive Extension. Admission is $10 for adults and free for students and children.

Lyon has been dedicated to the violin since an early age, and has been playing for about 20 years.

She said the best part about performing is interacting with the audience.

"It's a shared experience to be able to create emotions for people, as well as present the various emotions of the composers," she said.

But when it comes to her biggest musical influence, Lyon said she is inspired more by her parents than famous musicians.

The family, known to the orchestral community as the Lyon Family Ensemble, consists of Clara and her father James on the violin, while her mother, Carol, and younger sister, Elizabeth, play the cello. The family has performed together for several years, including an extensive Australian tour in 2002.

She also received an academic foundation when she graduated from the esteemed performing arts conservatory, The Juilliard School. She recently earned a Master of Music degree at the State University of New York at Stony Brook and is now working towards a Doctor of Musical Arts degree.

"I definitely plan to pursue this professionally, but I'm unsure of whether that would be mostly teaching or performing." Lyon said. "Definitely some combination of both."

Clara's father, James Lyon, just wants his daughter to have freedom in her career.

"I don't have specific goals for her, but I want her to have a position substantial enough that she won't have to do a lot of things on the side." Lyon said. "A job at a university has a lot of freedom."

He said Clara has always loved music. Even with such a musical family, he doesn't think his daughter felt much pressure to pursue music as a career.

"I bet there were probably times," Lyon said, "but we just tried to make it clear that we thought it was a great thing to do."

Lyon's fellow performer, Nana Shi, is a chamber musician trained in the piano in both her home country of China and the College-Conservatory of Music at the University of Cincinnati. She has won several awards and has performed as a soloist with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. She, like Lyon, is pursuing her Doctor of Musical Arts from Stony Brook University.