Snow-laden Altoona will get a taste of sunny Barcelona, Spain, on Friday evening courtesy of the Raystown Wind Orchestra, who will cap their 13th annual performance with the global premiere of composer Joshua Idio’s “Guadi.”

The free concert at the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament will begin at 7 p.m. Friday, Feb. 13.

Idio felt moved to write the piece celebrating Antoni Gaudi, the noted Catalan architect who designed the Sagrada Familia basilica, after Idio’s 2022 trip to Barcelona, according to orchestra conductor James Latten.

Latten, who also serves as the director of instrumental music at Juniata College, said that the 22-minute original composition is a “masterwork.”

Idio, a Filipino-American composer, educator, conductor and trumpeter from New Jersey, met Latten through a musical trade publication where Idio sought consortium sponsors to complete the four-movement piece in late 2024.

Idio and Latten collaborated closely to finish the piece, which will be performed publicly for the first time on Friday.

The orchestra had originally planned to debut the work at the cathedral in February 2025, but an unexpected snow storm canceled the performance at the last minute.

Since the concert did not list a rain date, it took a full year to book the cathedral space again, Latten said.

The distinct acoustic resonance and stately environment of the cathedral is essential to fully bring “Gaudi” to life, he said.

The orchestra will round out the evening’s repertoire with four other pieces, including the “Concerto for Marimba” by James Basta, with soloist Michael Thomas of York.

Assistant Conductor Sandra Lee will lead the group through Steven Bryant’s Dusk and Sir Malcolm Arnold’s “Four Scottish Dances,” with Latten conducting a subset of the full band in Vincent Persichetti’s Serenade No. 1 to close the performance.

The Raystown Wind Orchestra is composed of advanced amateur musicians from the Altoona, Huntingdon and State College area. The orchestra performed their first concert in 2013.

Mirror Staff Writer Conner Goetz is at 814-946-7535.

If you go

What: A woodwind concert featuring the global premiere of Joshua Idio’s “Guadi”

Where: Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament, Altoona

When: 7 p.m. Friday, Feb. 13

Cost: Admission is free; donations accepted