Get set for a musical weekend in the red rocks.

Fans of classical music will celebrate Arizona’s 100th birthday as a state with two concerts this weekend. Both shows, followed by a centennial celebration, are offered by the Verde Valley Sinfonietta organization.

The first concert is planned for Saturday, Feb. 11, beginning at 7 p.m. The second will be held Sunday, Feb. 12, at 2:30 p.m. Both concerts are being held at the Rock of Ages Lutheran Church at 390 Dry Creek Road. Music will include Arizona’s Centennial Overture, Ludwig van Beethoven’s violin concerto and the orchestra’s performance of Franz Schubert’s “unfinished” Symphony No. 8.

Mary Pope, president of the Verde Valley Sinfonietta Board of Trustees, said musicians often recognize Sedona for its high quality interest in the arts.

“We tend to attract talent,” Pope said.

Some of that talent includes local composer Sy Brandon from Cottonwood. Brandon, a composer from Cottonwood, won the Arizona Centennial competition for music.

“The state held a competition for an original overture and Sy Brandon, who is a local to Cottonwood, actually won that. We’ll be playing his piece,” Pope said.

Arnaud Sussmann, a violin soloist with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center will also be on hand for to play Beethoven’s violin concerto. A special centennial celebration is also planned following the Feb. 12 concert. The celebration dinner begins at 5:30 p.m.

“Gayle Taylor, a local Sedona artist, volunteered her residence, which is just delightfully exotic, and she’s opened her doors to us. Barron Unger has prepared the food, which he has donated, and Arizona Stronghold is donating their official centennial wines. We’ve got it all set up with a Western theme. We’re just going to really enjoy Arizona’s birthday on [Feb. 12] after the concert. We’re encouraging people to come to the concert dressed in their best Western gear, so we should have a whole lot of cowboy hats and jeans. Let’s just enjoy being from the West,” Pope said.

Brandon said he’s excited to see the orchestral performance Feb. 11.

“I’m very excited. I heard one rehearsal, and we spent about 45 minutes together. They’re doing an excellent job,” Brandon said.

Brandon was commissioned to write the band composition for the centennial by the Arizona Commission on the Arts. He received the commission in January 2010.

“They wanted it by May of 2010. I did the band piece in about two months. The idea behind it is the commission wanted to make a composition available to all the musical organizations in the state for free downloads, so they could participate musically in celebrating the centennial,” Brandon said. “I actually ended up making two band versions, an easier band version and an advanced band version.”

He later made a full orchestral version and chamber orchestral version as well.

Sinfonietta Music Director David Cripps said February concerts are typically entitled “Love is in the Music,” though that changed for the 2012 production.

“This year, with the Arizona Centennial, we have two celebrations going on. The concerts themselves consist of four pieces,” Cripps said.

Cripps served as a juror for the Arizona Commission on the Arts, the group that picked Brandon for the commission.

“It was a competitive entry for composers to submit resumes and samples of their works before the commission decided who they were going to award the commissions to. One was for a choral work and the other was for an instrumental work. We awarded the instrumental commission to Sy Brandon,” Cripps said. “It’s going to be fun. It’s a nice piece.