The music group The Marquis Ensemble, which includes Altoona native Diane Winter Pyles, will perform at 4 p.m. Sunday as part of the Music at St. John's series at St. John's Catholic Church in Lakemont.
"We have played together since about 2004," Pyles of Virginia said.
The ensemble includes Pyles, who grew up in Altoona in a musical family which ran the Winters Music Store. Her brother is Paul Winter, a Grammy-winning performer. Pyles, who plays piano, went to Northwestern University, performs with a number of music groups and teaches piano.
In the ensemble, Igor Zubkovsky plays cello. Pyles said he attended the Gnessin for Gifted Child-ren school in Moscow and has played since he was 5 years old.
"Igor, a Russian, came from Moscow in 1998," she said. "He plays in the Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra and does solo appearances in Washington (D.C.)."
The third member who will be performing is Jean-Francois Bescond, a clarinetist who has studied at various schools and lives in Paris.
Fact Box
If you go
What: The Marquis Ensemble concert
Where: St. John's Catholic Church, Lakemont
When: 4 p.m. Sunday
Admission: $8 suggested donation at the door
"He is flying in for this concert and two others. He and I have collaborated since 2003 and we try to play about two times a year together. The three of us did four concerts in Paris in January of this year," Pyles said.
She said the St. John's church is a good venue in which to play. She has performed in the St. John's series before.
"This space at St. John's is wonderful. It's a beautiful sanctuary and relatively new with a modern church," Pyles said.
"We are classical musicians. These are some of our favorites as well," she said about the works the ensemble will perform including pieces by Beethoven, Schumann and d'Rivera.
Fred Fornwalt, an organizer of the series, said The Marquis Ensemble fits well.
"We offer chamber music series, so that's what they perform, a piano, cello and clarinet. And the cellist was the cello soloist with the Altoona Symphony last season. He was just a phenomenal cellist," he said.
"We're very fortunate to get them here in Altoona," he added.
He expects a crowd of 100 or more.
The next concert in the series will feature the music of advent and the choirs of St. John's.
"We're trying to make classical music accessible to everyone. It's a very family friendly atmosphere," Fornwalt said.
