"We don't have a wind quintet in the area, so it was something new and different," said Elizabeth Crone, live music coordinator for the Lyric.

Many people may be more familiar with the wind ensemble's more traditional chamber music counterpart, the string quartet, Jeff Scott said in a phone interview Monday.

But Imani Winds' members -- French hornist Scott, flutist Valerie Coleman, oboist Toyin Spellman-Diaz, clarinetist Mariam Adam and bassoonist Monica Ellis -- compose much of their own modern chamber music. That music is created specifically for a wind quintet.

"The thing with a wind quintet is it's almost a blank palette," Scott said. "We don't have anything by Brahms or Beethoven to pick from."

While string quartets were gaining in popularity during the 19th and 20th centuries, wind instruments were still being developed, he said.

"I get the feeling some of the household name composers didn't find it practical" to write for wind instruments, he said.

But the blank palette is something the ensemble has embraced, he said. Scott and Coleman compose much of the group's music.

"There are spirituals, jazz and things we were all influenced by growing up in urban environment," Scott said.

In 2008, Imani Winds started the Legacy Commissioning Project, a venture that at the end of five years plans to showcase 10 new pieces written for wind quintets by composers of various musical backgrounds, including classical, jazz, Latin and Middle Eastern musical styles.

This summer will also mark the first Imani Winds Chamber Music Institute, a program for young musicians in New York.

"It's our attempt to leave a bit of a legacy behind," Scott said.

But leaving a musical tradition behind wasn't the group's focus for the first few years, Scott said.

In 1997, Coleman contacted the other members of what is now Imani Winds to try to get a group started. For a few years, the group just played together for fun because all were involved in other projects around New York City, Scott said.

"She always knew this would be a group that would do things," he said. "It just took a while for the rest of us onboard."

But Coleman persisted, and Imani Winds eventually became a dedicated, touring group.

"I can honestly say we enjoy each other and see it onstage," Scott said. "We look forward to every time we perform."

While in Blacksburg, Imani Winds will also host a workshop for members of Virginia Tech's symphonic wind ensemble Saturday morning.

The show is a joint venture between the Lyric and Virginia Tech, partially funded by an $8,500 diversity grant from Tech's College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences, Crone said.

"They're really taking off and making a name for themselves, so it's a great opportunity to have them here," she said.