The Lawrence Chamber Orchestra is getting a little French inspiration this week.

Classical guitarist Anthony Glise, who lives part time in St. Joseph, Mo., and part time in northern France, has been working for almost a year to organize the chorale dual featuring his own work, the Lawrence orchestra, guitarist Jason Riley, the St. Joseph Chamber Choir and the Chorale Divertimento of Wasquehal, France. The concert will be 7:30 p.m. Saturday in the Lawrence High School auditorium.

Glise said he wanted to mix his two worlds by joining musicians from his home in America with musicians from his home in France. And after playing with the Lawrence orchestra last year, Glise knew he wanted to involve the group.

“The Lawrence Chamber Orchestra is absolutely beyond question one of the best in the region,” he said. “They can absolutely do anything.”

The full ensemble will practice together twice before Saturday night’s concert in Lawrence. Mick Braa, general manager of the Lawrence orchestra, said Saturday would be almost a dress rehearsal for a second performance Sunday in St. Joseph. Only 13 members of the Lawrence orchestra are taking part in the concert. The group will play in three of the pieces during the performance.

Conductor Steven Elisha, at right in white, and guitarist Jason Riley, left, rehearse with a 13-piece ensemble from the Lawrence Chamber Orchestra, the St. Joseph Chamber Choir and the Chorale Divertimento of Wasquehal, France, for Saturday's performance of Chorale Dual at Lawrence High School.

Glise said inspiration for combining the French and American groups came largely from their similarities, adding that, like the Lawrence area, northern France has experienced a great deal of immigration and also has an agrarian culture. Even though just 19 of the 42 members in the French choir speak English, Glise said the groups’ similarities would make it like “meeting old friends that you just haven’t met yet.”

Glise will be premiering two compositions in Lawrence — “Stabat Mater” and “Mass for the Children.” “Stabat Mater,” which means “standing mother” in Latin, is a composition about Mary standing at the foot of Jesus’ crib. “Mass for the Children” is a piece that contains quotes from children murdered in Nazi concentration camps, from a slave child, and from a child killed by a land mine in Afghanistan. The narration in that composition will be done by children.

“I wanted the ‘Mass for the Children’ to be a slightly vicious jolt of attention to adults to make them realize the responsibility they have to the children,” Glise said.

After the concerts in Lawrence and St. Joseph, the St. Joseph choir will travel to France for two weeks, where they will perform six concerts with the French chorale in northern France. Ultimately, Glise said he would like the Lawrence Chamber Orchestra to take part in a similar exchange.