Chamber music does not readily bring to mind a quartet of pianos and percussion.

Quick, now: Name a work composed for pianos and percussion. Can you name even one professional ensemble for that combination?

Honolulu Chamber Music Series is opening its season with such an ensemble: L'Ensemble Pennetier, consisting of the French composer/conductor/musician Jean-Claude Pennetier (piano), his wife, France Pennetier (piano), his son Georges Pennetier (percussion) and Chris Thompson (percussion).

Tonight's concert promises to be the most distinctive chamber music offered this year.

"The combination of two pianos and percussion doesn't yet have a very vast repertoire," France Pennetier noted, "so our program includes commissions that we have elicited from contemporary composers. It also includes works from the repertoire for one or two instrumentalists that match the spirit of those written for us, and of course includes the centerpiece of the program, which is the 'Sonata for Two Pianos and Percussion' by Bartok."

Of the five works listed on the program, only two use both pianos and percussion: the Bartok and Yoshihisa Taira's "Ignescence" ("Volatility"). Two more are for two pianos: an arrangement by Debussy of his well-known "Prelude à l'aprEs-midi d'un faune" ("Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun"), and two movements from Messiaen's devout "Sept visions de l'amen" ("Seven Visions of Amen"). The final work is for solo percussion: Guy Reibel's "Variations en étoile" ("Variations in a Star"), with improvisation by Georges Pennetier.

Four of the five works are French or have French roots. Both Debussy and Messiaen were the greatest French composers of their generations and enormously influential. Taira and Reibel both studied with Messiaen. Only Bartók's musical heritage lies elsewhere. It should be interesting to hear how these pieces fit together as a program: Is their only connection their instrumentation? What are their musical connections, their differences?

All five works were composed within the past circa 110 years, a period renowned for using a vast array of compositional and performance techniques. Every ensemble excels at certain techniques and styles: Which do these pieces use, and how well does L'Ensemble Pennetier execute them?

And most importantly: What do these works, and especially the newest works by Taira and Reibel, have to say? What insights do L'Ensemble Pennetier have to offer?

The focal point of L'Ensemble is Jean-Claude, a composer, conductor, teacher and performer with numerous recordings and awards, including the Legion of Honor, in 2002.