They hardly ever perform as one big group, yet they never play alone. Although they are all of soloist caliber, the American Chamber Players are a group of musicians who are committed to making excellent chamber music.

At Chamber Players’ performances, audiences can expect to hear a variety of pieces with combinations of instruments that are not often heard together.

“We have varied programs with interesting combinations of instruments,” said violist and founder of the group Miles Hoffman. “That’s the group’s appeal.”

The Chamber Players is a seven- member group that was originally formed in 1985 by Hoffman from a group of artists at the Library of Congress Summer Chamber Festival. Although the group has seven members, it is a rare occurrence when all seven are seen in the same concert.

“There are seven members in the group, but usually four, five or six travel together,” Hoffman said. “The whole point of our group is to play all sorts of different combinations.”

This superb group of musicians has traveled throughout North America to play for many colleges, universities and chamber music societies. In November 1992, it traveled to Europe to play a series of gala concerts at the Paris Opera and the Bibliotheque Nationale.

Playing well-known pieces by prominent composers, and not-so-well-known pieces by those same composers, the group enjoys exposing audiences to a variety of tunes and styles. “We enjoy playing pieces by well-known composers that the audience might not be familiar with,” Hoffman said.

Although the group plays pieces by classical and romantic artists, Hoffman said the group also has a commitment to American composers.

Max Raimi, a living composer, has been commissioned by the group many times to compose a number of pieces. Saturday’s concert will include a composition by Raimi for violin and viola.

This weekend, four members of the group — violist Miles Hoffman, violinist Kathy Judd, French hornist Anthony Cecere and pianist Edward Newman — will be coming to Ames.

Music played at the concert will include Robert Schuman’s “Adagio and Allegro” for horn and piano; “Marchenbilder (Fairy Pictures)” for viola and piano; Max Raimi’s “Duo for Violin and Viola”; Max Bruch’s “Four Pieces for Violin, Viola and Piano”; and Johannes Brahms’ “Trio in E-Flat Major” for horn, violin and piano.

The group takes pride in the fact that every performance is a diverse collaboration of instruments and pieces.

“Every piece on the program is a different instrumental combination,”Hoffman said.

Hoffman is looking forward to the program and encourages students to attend. “I hope as many students as possible can come,” he said. “We love to expose people to music and hope they develop a taste for it. The whole point of making music is to touch people in some way.”

A part of the Ames Town and Gown Concert Series, the American Chamber Players is presented with support from the Ames Commission on the Arts and with a grant from the Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs, Iowa Community Cultural Program.

The concert will be held Saturday at 7:30 p.m. in the Music Building Recital Hall. Tickets available at the door are $15. Students are admitted free of charge.