The West Virginia University Wind Symphony, under the direction of Don Wilcox, will perform a winter concert as part of the activities involved in the annual WVU High School Invitational Honors Band event at the Creative Arts Center Feb. 10-12.

The Wind Symphony Concert takes place Friday, Feb. 11, at 7:30 p.m. in the Lyell B. Clay Concert Theatre at the Creative Arts Center. Appearing as guest conductors will be James Barnes, renowned band composer and conductor from the University of Kansas; Russell Coleman, retired director of bands from Central Missouri State University; and WVU music alumnus Phil Wyatt from Nutter Fort Middle School in Clarksburg and current president of the West Virginia Music Educators Association.

The program will open withthe Overture toCandideby Leonard Bernstein.Candide,the comic operetta based on Voltaires work, had a short musical life on Broadway in 1956, but its lively overture had its premiere by the New York Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of the composer in 1957 and has become a favorite in the concert repertoire of both orchestras and bands.

It will be followed by Percy A. GraingersLincolnshire Posy,a band classic written in 1937, which has greatly influenced band music written during the last half of the 20 th century and which has been loved by audiences world-wide for more than 60 years. The six movements each present a folk song from the Lincolnshire region of England, collected by Grainger as he traveled the area with an early recording machine in 1905 and 1906.

Toccata and Fugue in D Minor,by J.S. Bach, is a masterpiece for the organ. From the free and showy style of the toccata and the huge climax at the end, it is evident that Bach composed this work as a virtuoso concert piece rather than as a work for a church service.

At the end of the first half, James Barnes will conduct his own work,Fantasy Variations on a Theme by Niccolo Paganini,which was commissioned by the United States Marine Band as a virtuoso exhibition piece for the Bands 1989 tour. The theme is based on Paganinis 24 th Caprice in A Minor, for solo violin, and showcases every soloist and major section of the modern symphonic band. Following intermission, the Wind Symphony will present ** Proud Heritageby William Latham. This march is one of Lathams most popular works and one of the most popular marches from the 1960s and 1970s.

Eternal Father Strong to Saveby Claude T. Smith was originally written for the United States Navy Band. This Navy hymn will be familiar to those in the audience who remember John F. Kennedys funeral, as it was his favorite hymn.

The last piece on the program will beApocalyptic Dreamsby David Gillingham, which is structured in the form of a three-movement symphony with each movement bearing the title of a part of theApocalypseas told in the New Testaments Book of Revelations.

For tickets and information, call the Mountainlair Box Office at (304) 293-SHOW.