The W.D. Packard Concert Band will honor Stephen L. Gage on Sunday by doing one of the things he loved — sharing music with others.

Gage, who died in February at age 66 following surgical complications, had been conductor of the Packard band since 2012 and taught at Youngstown State University for 28 years before retiring in 2021.

On Sunday, several guest conductors will lead the band at Packard Music Hall in “A Musical Celebration of Life” performing music Gage conducted during his tenure with the band. It also will feature the premiere of “A Tale So Tall,” a piece written by composer Anthony O’Toole in memory of Gage. It proves Gage’s impact on those who knew him, worked with him and learned from him that O’Toole’s composition is one of several that has been inspired by his death.

“I (first) heard a synthesized version, and it’s the kind of piece Steve would have liked to play with the wind ensemble,” said Thomas Groth, executive director of the Packard Band. “He and Anthony O’Toole were very close. He came here for a residency at the university a few years ago. He came to a Packard Band concert, and they’ve collaborated on other things. I like the piece very much and it’s something Steve would like and do.”

The guest conductors for the program will be John Veneskey of South Range Local Schools, Christopher Ciccone of Towson University, Galen L. Karriker from University of Akron and Bruce Moss from Bowling Green State University.

Each one will share personal memories of Gage during their portion of the program, and the concert will include several other guest speakers — Emily Onufrak and Becky Yoho, who are both clarinet players with the Packard band and former students of Gage; family friends Catena Core and Leslie Core (who plays trombone with the Packard); and Clem Zumpella, a Packard band member and Gage’s long-time golf partner.

“I wanted to have guest conductors who knew Steve, who were close to him in one way or another,” Groth said. “They’re colleagues that Steve has worked with, both at Youngstown and other schools and former students. Same with the guest speakers. Of course, we can’t have everybody, but I wanted to get a cross section.”

The program will include Pavel Tschesnokoff’s “Salvation Is Created,” Eric Whitacre’s “October,” Percy Aldridge Grainger’s “Irish Tune from County Derry,” Frank Ticheli’s “Amazing Grace,” medleys of Irving Berlin and big band favorites and John Philip Sousa’s “The National Game” and “El Capitan” marches.

“He especially liked when the concert band did big band music,” Groth said. “He just enjoyed that and the band plays that style so well, so I knew he’d like that. And he really loved the music of Irving Berlin on the pop side.”

Groth included the baseball-inspired “National Game” out of the many Sousa marches the band performed because Gage was a big Los Angeles Dodgers fan

The afternoon also will include a audiovisual recording of Gage conducting the band, flutist Jessica Banks and vocalist Ellen Wakeford-Banks performing “What a Wonderful World,” the George David Weiss and Robert Thiele song most associated with Louis Armstrong.

Images of Gage also will be projected on the screen behind the band throughout the concert.

Sunday is the first of two memorial concerts planned for Gage. A May 21 event at Stambaugh Auditorium will raise money for scholarships in Gage’s name at YSU and Indiana State University, which is where he was teaching when he died.

“I kept in touch with (Gage’s wife) Stephanie,” Groth said. “I didn’t want to do anything that would take away from what they have planned.”

Gage’s family will be in attendance on Sunday, and Gage’s son, Brendan, will be on stage playing French horn with the band.

“I asked him if he wanted to be in the audience or if he wanted to play, and he wanted to be up there with us,” Groth said.

If you go …

WHAT: “A Musical Celebration of Life” for Stephen L. Gage

WHEN: 3 p.m. Sunday

WHERE: Packard Music Hall, 1703 Mahoning Ave. NW, Warren

HOW MUCH: Admission is free, and funding is provided by the W.D. Packard trust.