A GOUROCK conductor will be leading the commemorations to mark the centenary of the end of World War 1 at Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum on Sunday.

William Barr, 67, who has been the musical director of Glasgow Philharmonic Male Voice Choir for the past 18 years, will lead 80 male voices on the day.

The concert will be the climax to all the events held to make the special anniversary.

William, of Craigmuschat Road, says he feels honoured to have such a major role in the day-long series of events which includes a contribution from the Scottish Youth Theatre and top piper.

William said: "It's quite a privilege to be asked.

"It will be an unusual event with the sounds of bugles, organ and piano to create the feeling of what it would be like to go through a day in the trenches.

"It is always important to mark remembrance day, for the freedom we have today cost lives."

The event is the culmination of a four year programme of events, exhibitions, displays, talks and workshops curated by Glasgow Museums to mark the 100th anniversary of World War I.

The museum will open early, at 10.30am, to allow visitors to observe the minutes silence at 11am.

Afterwards Scottish Youth Theatre will read Letters from the Trenches, Roddy MacLeod MBE, Principal of The National Piping Centre and one of the world’s most accomplished solo pipers, will play and a male voice choir will join with instrumentalists to perform a musical commemoration of the First World War.

One of the highlights will be Letters from the Trenches, a dramatic presentation of a series of moving and evocative letters detailing what life was really like in the trenches of World War One.

This is a joint project between Kelvingrove Museum and three actors from the Scottish Youth Theatre.

The words will be accompanied by a soundscape specially created for the day by Glasgow composer Michael Hunter, best known for his music for the multi-award winning Grand Theft Auto game series. Using original sources the soundscape creates a vivid and terrifying picture in sound of the battlefield

The day will culminate at 3pm with a concert led by Mr Barr, featuring a repertoire of bugle calls, Elgar's Nimrod and a medley of wartime songs such as It's a Long Way to Tipperary, Keep the Home Fires Burning and Pack Up Your Troubles.

Mr Barr, although an accountant to trade, has enjoyed an impressive musical career.

Locally he is as an adjudicator and regularly participates in the Inverclyde young musicians competition organised by the Rotary Club of Gourock.

But his talents as a conductor and arranger of music means he is in demand across the country and further afield.

He has trained choristers for radio, television and live performances from Mayfest to Songs of Praise and schooled singers for concerts all over Britain including at the Royal Albert Hall.

In 2014 he was delighted to be the musical Director of Voices of the Commonwealth, a gala concert starting the Dementia Awareness Week raising £11,000 for Alzheimer Scotland.

This is a cause close to his heart as he lost his beloved first wife Isabel to dementia.

He is now happily re-married to Morag while his daughter Alison, 39, has followed in his footsteps and is a music graduate and teaches piano.

The concert will run from 3 until 4pm.