Washington Symphony Orchestra concert planners put on their thinking caps when they came up with the idea of staging a concert with the title "The Battle of the Sexes."

After searching the catalog of available music for compositions with a distinct yin or yang flavor, they came up with pieces such as "Mars" from Gustav Holst's "The Planets," "The Triumphal March" from Giuseppe Verdi's "Aida," and two excerpts from Edward Elgar's "Enigma Variations," the introspective "Nimrod" and "Dorabella."

All will be featured at Saturday's 8 p.m. concert in Trinity High School Auditorium.

In addition to its sexy masculine-feminine theme, the concert will feature special guest conductor, Efrain Amaya, artist lecturer in music theory and resident conductor at Carnegie Mellon University.

Born in Venezuela, Mr. Amaya began his musical training south of the border, but later continued in the United States, earning degrees in composition and piano from the University of Indiana and a master's in conducting from Rice University.

Mr. Amaya's compositions have been featured at international festivals in Seattle, Dallas, Boston, Mexico City and Caracas, as well as closer to home in Western Pennsylvania. One of his compositions, "Parasol" (literally meaning "stop-sun" in Spanish), will be featured at Saturday's concert.

" 'Parasol' was written for the Shaler Middle School Honors Band," he said. "Since it was written for young players, I wanted to write a piece that was challenging, yet engaging."

"Parasol" is based on the "clave" rhythmical pattern that is so much used in Latin American folk music.

"Throughout the winter of 2002 ,when I wrote this piece, I had been yearning for the times when I lived in Caracas," Mr. Amaya said.

"Back then, I used to go to these amazing beaches every weekend. The one thing you notice right away is the sun, which is both a blessing in its clear light and a deadly weapon to your skin. To survive, you needed either a palm tree or a parasol."

Another interesting feature of the concert is the addition to the WSO of five student musicians from Canon-McMillan High School playing violin, flute, clarinet, French horn and trumpet.

"Augmenting the orchestra with students from area high schools for our February concert is something I hope to do each year," WSO Music Director Yugo Ikach said.

Saturday's "The Battle of the Sexes" concert begins at 8 p.m. in the Trinity High School auditorium in Washington. Starting at 7:15 p.m., a conductor's corner talk will explain some of the evening's musical selections. Tickets are $12 for adults, $8 for children, students and seniors 65 and over. For more information, phone 724-223-9796.