For most of the year, Leighton Miles spends his days staring at a computer screen, doing information and technology work for a concrete manufacturing plant.

But during the winter months he goes into yuletide rock star mode as keyboardist and saxophonist for Midnight Cry, a local orchestral-rock band.

Since 2004, Midnight Cry has been spreading the Christmas spirit through music at area churches and high schools.

Midnight Cry brings its show for the first time to the Bing Crosby Theater for a concert on Sunday night.

The eight-piece Christmas band will be playing songs from its new album, self-released last week.

With two guitars, two keyboards, sax, bass, drums and two singers, Midnight Cry's brand of symphonic rock is directly influenced by the Trans-Siberian Orchestra.

In fact, Miles and guitarist Patrick Johnson started the project as a TSO tribute.

The band's first show was such a hit they decided to make it an annual affair. Midnight Cry still plays a bulk of TSO material during the live set, and the new album contains TSO songs, but originals have been added to the repertoire as well as original arrangements of pre-existing material, including Christmas standards.

The new album, modestly titled "Midnight Cry LP 2010," is available for donation only at shows and through the band's 

web site, www.midnight-cry.com.

"We felt it's better to offer the music that way because we're not in it for the money," miles said during a telephone interview. "We'd rather have the music be accessible to anyone who wants it, even if they can't afford the price of a normal CD. Our shows are all by donation, too. This is the first show where we're charging admission but that's to cover the cost of putting it on at The Bing. And we have cheaper tickets through the churches. We kept it as inexpensive as we could."

The band is comprised of members who largely have been friends since childhood, including two sets of siblings, and grew up playing music together -- co-founders Miles and Johnson, guitarist Lamont Miles, keyboardist David Johnson, bassist Rachel Johnson, vocalist Amalie Marte, vocalsit Danielle Dupey and drummer Jesse Slippy.

The band will have played about 10 Christmas concerts before the year's end, including a short tour through Idaho to Portland. Midnight Cry has also played a number of benefit concerts, such as last week's benefit for the North Idaho Youth Camp.

Aside from Midnight Cry, Leighton Miles has self-produced and released several albums on his own solo project in which he plays all of the instrumentation. Similar to the music of Midnight Cry, it's laden with symphonic rock qualities.

"It's all (synthesized) strings and piano driven music, but the guitar is right in there with them," Miles said. "It's with strings but at times it's more like a heavy metal headbanger."

Midnight Cry with Cami Bradley, at Sunday at 7 p.m. at The Bing Crosby Theater, 901 W. Sprague Ave.

Tickets: $12 through TicketsWest, www.ticketswest.rdln.com