Saxton's Cornet Band has never performed a joint concert in its 19 years of re-creating the sounds of the Civil War era.

The reason has been that everyone would be out of tune.

"We're playing on Civil War-era instruments," explained David Goins, general manager and musician of the Frankfort, Ky., band. "Our instruments are not pitched to today's modern instruments. The pitch is so different (playing together) would send dogs and cats running."

But the cornet band has devised a plan to allow the group to play side by side with the Millikin University Symphonic Band on Sunday at Kirkland Fine Arts Center.

"Lincoln and Liberty, Too!" is the title of the concert, which re-creates band music heard by President Abraham Lincoln between 1861 and 1865. It features patriotic tunes, operatic melodies, dance music from Lincoln's inaugural balls and White House parties and quickstep marches played by military bands.

The evening will conclude with a joint performance, with Saxton's Cornet Band matching the symphonic band's pitch by playing instruments from the 1900s. A costume change will reflect the instrument change, Goins said.

"We hope to continue doing these joint concerts," he said. "It certainly makes us more marketable."

Saxton's Cornet Band is named for a popular and long-lived ensemble founded by Henry Saxton. The band performed in Kentucky for more than 60 years, from before the Civil War period into the early 20th century, according to the band's Web site.

The band was formed again in 1989, and today it bases its performance on musicianship and historical accuracy.

"We're trying to keep that era alive," Goins said. "It's kind of a window to the past."

For the concert, Goins said the band conducted research on the music Lincoln listened to during his presidency and found the president was fond of operas. He particularly enjoyed Charles Gounod's "Faust."

"There's documentation of Lincoln seeing that opera four times during his presidency," Goins said.

Readings from Lincoln's speeches and his tall tales will be intertwined into the concert.

The Millikin Symphonic Band's conductor, Gary Shaw, said his band will perform the first part of the concert by themselves and then be joined by Saxton's Cornet Band tuba player Kelly Diamond for Andrea Catozzi's "Beelzebub."

A Saxton's Cornet Band member will narrate "the big piece of the concert," Aaron Copland's "A Lincoln Portrait," played by the symphonic band.

"Its fun for the students to work with them because they will see the love the band has for the Civil War era," Shaw said. "Their program is authentic in music and costumes, and they put on a well rounded show.

"Everything about them was just what I was looking for."

WHAT: "Lincoln and Liberty, Too!" with Saxton's Cornet Band and the Millikin University Symphonic Band.

WHEN: 2 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 5.

WHERE: Kirkland Fine Arts Center, Millikin University, Decatur.

TICKETS: $10 general admission, $7 for seniors and students at the Kirkland box office, 424-6318, or online at www.millikin.edu/Kirkland.

ON THE WEB: www.saxtonscornetband.com.

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