The Center for the Performing Arts at Penn State hosts an evening at the salon Monday, but hairstyling and manicures won't be part of the intimate experience. If you're looking for an up-close-and-personal encounter with some of the world's finest chamber musicians, plus the beautiful music of Ludwig van Beethoven, though, the 7 p.m. salon evening at The Nittany Lion Inn Board Room should prove more memorable than a mere trip to the beauty shop.

The St. Lawrence String Quartet, the ensemble-in-residence at Stanford University, is praised for the technical brilliance of its music making. But the quartet is equally renowned for the enthusiasm and expressiveness of its musicians in concert and in settings, such as the salon evening, when they get to interact with people to talk about what they do.

The St. Lawrence is scheduled to perform three Beethoven string quartets in concert at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday in Schwab Auditorium. Tonight's salon evening, which if free and open to the public, features the musicians performing excerpts of those quartets. Penn State School of Music faculty members will also be on hand at the inn to lend insight into the works.

In addition to tonight's salon and the Nov. 14 concert, the St. Lawrence is leading a master class for School of Music string students. The 10 a.m. Tuesday master class, in Music Building I's Esber Recital Hall, is open to the public for observation.

Wednesday's concert features the Beethoven quartets in B-flat Major, Op. 18, No. 6; F Major, Op. 59, No. 1, Rasumovsky; and E-flat Major, Op. 127.

Tickets are still available for the Nov. 14 concert, which is part of the second season of the Center for the Performing Arts Classical Music Project.

Hear a Center for the Performing Arts interview with St. Lawrence cellist Christopher Costanza.

Read my colleague Jennifer Pencek's feature article about the St. Lawrence and the Beethoven concert.