Members of the New Columbian Wind Band have their hands full with the Jullien Project. This involves recording music from the 1840s and 1850s that was composed by Jullien, a Frenchman who went to London around 1840. He is credited with originating the promenade concerts in London, which continue to this day. In 1844, he started publishing a band journal, which featured some of the earliest printed band music.
The group of professional players will perform Jullien's music 1 p.m. Saturday in Newlin Hall.
To play the music, the makeup of the group is a little different than it is traditionally. It consists of a flute, five clarinets, two bassoons, two cornets, two trumpets, four French horns, three trombones, two tubas and percussion.
"We have players coming in from different places around the country -- Los Angeles, Washington and Michigan," says George Foreman, conductor for the group and The Advocate Brass Band.
The group will rehearse and actually record this music early in the week before the festival. The recording will be the fifth CD for the group, which includes all five members of Millennium Brass and members of the Marine Brass Quintet. The music has never been recorded.
"It's been pretty much forgotten and overlooked," Foreman says. 
Foreman says he has known about Jullien for years, but in last couple of years began collecting the composer's sheet music. While in London, he found eight or nine broadsides or posters from the concerts of the music. The posters listed all the pieces that were played. In November, he went to the British Library and made copies.
"I could see how what he was doing was important to how bands developed."
There have been kinks to work out with using music from the 1840s when instruments used now were evolved and sometimes didn't even exist. John Laverty, director of bands at Syracuse University, is editing the music so it can be played with modern instruments.
"He puts all the music into a computer program that prints out new parts," Foreman says.
Now the challenge to preserve the past faces these professional musicians.
"It's important for preserving band history," Foreman says.