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The former Lapeer West High School band director will add to his musical resume Wednesday night at the 58th annual Sanilac County Band Festival at 7 p.m. in the Marlette High School Gymnasium.

Burns taught music for 30 years —28 years at West. "I miss working with the kids, but retirement can't be beat," he said. "My wife, Dortha, and I went on a 7,500 cross-country trip. I went whitetail hunting in Texas, and we went on a Bahama cruise."

Wednesday night's band festival will begin with an individual performance of two selections by each of the seven participating bands: Brown City, Carsonville-Port Sanilac, Croswell-Lexington, Deckerville, Marlette, Peck, and Sandusky. The evening of band music will climax with a performance by the 2008 Sanilac County High School Honors Band under the direction of Burns.

"One of the schools contacted me and asked me to be the guest conductor," Burns said. "They pick their best band students. Back in January we had rehearsal at Marlette on the three pieces of music."

Burns said currently high school bands are preparing for festivals and he's doing critiques to help out various bands. "It's a different ear for them and very helpful," he said. "I feel very honored. I've also been busy judging band festivals and have done a lot of clinic work. You come in and listen to them and make constructive criticism."

Burns said on Wednesday night he will conduct "The Klaxon," which was written by Henry Fillmore that was written for the Klaxon Horn Company; "Works Lux Aurmuque" by Erik Whitecare and translates to "White and Gold;" and a "Longford Legend" by Robert Sheldon, which deals with three movements based on Irish poems. "In the first movement, the guy buys a boat and they all drive around in a circle until they die," Burns said.

The public is cordially invited to attend the band festival. Donation for the performance is $2 for adults and $1 for children.

Jennifer Decker can be reached at 664-0811, Ext. 8125 or jennifer.decker@lapeergroup.com.