To cap our tenth season, we’re presenting our largest-scale project to date. The large orchestra and chorus will perform this famous work with a new Kansas-themed text by Catherine Trieschmann. Led by conductor, Anna Lenti, and accomplished soloists including Katelyn Mattson who played Trudy Furney in the world premiere of Our Trudy at Prairiesta, and Kyle Van Schoonhoven who made his debut at The Metropolitan Opera in April.

To cap our tenth season, we’re presenting our largest-scale project to date. The large orchestra and chorus will perform this famous work with a new Kansas-themed text by Catherine Trieschmann. Led by conductor, Anna Lenti, and accomplished soloists including Katelyn Mattson who played Trudy Furney in the world premiere of Our Trudy at Prairiesta, and Kyle Van Schoonhoven who made his debut at The Metropolitan Opera in April.

Our audience will hear the Kansas premiere (and winner of the 2022 Pulitzer Prize for Music) of this groundbreaking work in the Cathedral of the Plains. This piece by Navajo composer, Raven Chacon, is written for flute, clarinets, percussion, organ, and strings and juxtaposes the stunning architecture with the jarring score.

Our favorite tradition remains. Russell native Brad Dawson leads his KC Jazz friends in a beautiful evening at Granny Mae’s Barn. Sip on hand-crafted cocktails, snack on popcorn, and enjoy each others company with a setting sun and a soundtrack by Brad and friends.

The festival presents Stimmung, a mid-century modern vocal work by German composer, Karlheinz Stockhausen. Tuning, translated to English, features six singers and six microphones around a campfire under the vast Kansas sky at night. The 75-minute avant-garde vocal work is semi-improvisatory and utilizes overtones to create an abstract atmosphere and soundscape. Artistic director, John Irving, leads this project.

Basking in the success of last year’s musical, The Fantasticks, this year we are pulling out all the stops for this brilliant, touching musical. Broadway veterans, Julie Foldesi and Trey Ellett join NYC-based Russell native, Nathan Hilger, Sterling College students Mary Little and Noah Svaty, and fresh Hays High graduate and Chicago-bound Seth Tripp tell this story of family, grief, and mental illness. This musical is rated PG-13.

SOLD OUT

Basking in the success of last year’s musical, The Fantasticks, this year we are pulling out all the stops for this brilliant, touching musical. Broadway veterans, Julie Foldesi and Trey Ellett join NYC-based Russell native, Nathan Hilger, Sterling College students Mary Little and Noah Svaty, and fresh Hays High graduate and Chicago-bound Seth Tripp tell this story of family, grief, and mental illness. This musical is rated PG-13.

We kick off our tenth season with Victoria native and pianist, Matthew Piatt, who coaches at San Francisco Opera, Chicago Lyric Opera, and The Metropolitan Opera. Piatt returns to Ad Astra with Elisa Sunshine, a San Francisco-based soprano.

Written during World War II in a prisoner of war camp, by French composer Olivier Messiaen, this work for clarinet, violin, cello, and piano was first performed by his fellow prisoners in the German camp. After last summer’s commission of Everyday People, the moving stories of Russell County’s World War II POWs inspired a performance of this famous piece of classical music. The Old Stone Church in Luray is the perfect atmosphere to hear Messiaen’s masterpiece.

For the festival’s big finish, the most performed work in the world, Handel’s Messiah. Alex Underwood leads a performance of this fantastic piece of music that everyone must hear live at least once in their lives. In true Ad Astra fashion, it will be semi-staged to play up the drama Handel instills in nearly all of his works. The choir of twenty will divide up the arias and sing all of the choruses to present the story of Jesus Christ in birth and life, death and resurrection, all in the beautiful St. Mary Queen of Angels Catholic Church.

Continuing our love for new, 90-minute operas in English, and fresh off the heels of the commission of Our Trudy for Prairiesta, we are bringing Willa Cather’s 1905 short story to life. Premiered in 2013, this tragic opera tells the story of Paul, a teenager from Pittsburgh who is bored with his humdrum life, steals his father’s money to live the high-life in New York City. As the money runs out and his father is en route to New York, Paul sees no possible solutions. Detroit-based opera impresario, Danielle Wright will direct, Terrance Volden, who designed Our Trudy returns this season to design this opera, and Canadian conductor, Patrick Murray, returns to the festival to music direct.

A festival favorite, and the star of Our Trudy, Katelyn Mattson returns to give us another outstanding night of music. On the program is the premiere of a song-cycle and some of Katelyn’s favorite art songs.

The first musical produced by Ad Astra, but not a first for Russell. The Fantasticks, which opened Off-Broadway in 1960, is famous for being the longest-running musical of all time, for a total of 42 years. Beyond that, it’s a charming piece of boutique theatre focusing on two young people who grow up as neighbors and end up falling in love. Russell Community Theatre produced the show in the 1980s starring long-time Russell teachers Lori Davidson and the late Jim Balthazor in the main roles.

The first musical produced by Ad Astra, but not a first for Russell. The Fantasticks, which opened Off-Broadway in 1960, is famous for being the longest-running musical of all time, for a total of 42 years. Beyond that, it’s a charming piece of boutique theatre focusing on two young people who grow up as neighbors and end up falling in love. Russell Community Theatre produced the show in the 1980s starring long-time Russell teachers Lori Davidson and the late Jim Balthazor in the main roles.

Russell native and Ft. Hays State University Jazz and Trumpet professor, Brad Dawson, invites his Kansas City jazz buddies out to Granny Mae’s to serenade us while we sip drinks as the sun sets. The picturesque evening is such an audience favorite that we can’t help but to bring it back every year. A familiar-yet-diverse set list, Brad’s beautiful playing, a signature cocktail, and the sun setting on an inevitably too-hot day is just the right combination for a Saturday night.

John Irving leads the Ad Astra Chamber Choir, Russell Community Choir, and High School Honor Choir in an inspiring program celebrating the life of Kansas aviation trail-blazer, Amelia Earhart. A grand opening to begin this season of the Ad Astra Music Festival requires an uplifting figure like Ms. Earhart for the professional, educational, and community elements of the festival to center upon.

The festival's most ambitious undertaking to date is the commissioning of an opera about the life of beloved Russell High School art teacher Trudy Furney. Composer Anna Pidgorna and librettist Maria Reva draw from their time in Russell to create this anticipated work. This sneak peek provides a look at their creative process, complete with interviews and sketches. The preview culminates with a workshop performance of scenes from the opera, to be premiered in full at Prairiesta next year.

Program

featuring
Trudy Furney | Katelyn Mattson-Levy, mezzo-soprano
Narrator | Dominic Aragon, baritone
Chorus | Alyssa Toepfer, soprano
Chorus | Janie Brokenicky, soprano
Chorus | Michael Davidson, tenor
Chorus | Patrick Graham, baritone

with
Anna Pidgorna, composer
Maria Reva, librettist
Austin McWilliams, music director
Sasha Hildebrand, stage director
Kevin Bourassa, opera scenes video editor

The Students

Trudy, Chorus

The Angel, Part I

Narrator, Chorus

The Angel, Part II

Trudy, Chorus

Promise Me

Trudy

High school students from around the world collaborate to perform a cappella pop and jazz arrangements in small groups. Over the course of two weeks, students led by industry professionals explore the style, trends, and approach of this genre. Tune in to be inspired by the next generation of musicians. Bringing this concert home, the Russell Community Choir sings the finale in the familiar virtual choir format.

Program

featuring
Mixed High School Ensemble
Treble High School Ensemble
Russell Community Choir

with
Alex Underwood, director
Shelby Laird, director
Grace Currie, director

Mixed High School Ensemble

Words, by Anders Edenroth
Revolution, by Pinkzebra

Treble High School Ensemble

Good Intent, by Kimbra, arr. MaryAnne Smith and Celine Durney
Sit Still, Look Pretty, by Daya, arr. Deke Sharon

Russell Community Choir

Let Us Cheer the Weary Traveler, arr. R. Nathaniel Dett

Ad Astra is committed to commissioning new music and performing works written within the last ten years. Desperately missing live musical interaction during our distancing, we reached out to composer Andrew Rodriguez to bring us together with his compositional voice and tech savvy and new media artist Xuan to bring the piece alive with her digital art. Watch the world premiere of Andrew's work, written for flute, clarinet, violin, cello, percussion, piano, and voice.

PROGRAM

featuring
Tynan Davis, mezzo-soprano
Tammy Evans Yonce, flute
Kristin Pisano, clarinet
Negar Afazel, violin
Benjamin Cline, cello
César Cañón, piano
Ryan Pearson, percussion

with
Andrew Rodriguez, composer
Xuan, new media artist

I: My warmth, my gaze

My warmth, my gaze
(my warmth, my gaze)

These days,
sometimes,
so many hours spent
searching
(my warmth, my gaze)
(my words, my shape) 

For years I’ve tried to find
memories
searching
(my warmth, my gaze)
(my words, my shape)

Memories as recent as yesterday.
Memories as recent as
a hundred years ago.
(my warmth, my gaze)
(my only wish, distancing yourself) 

II: I remember

I remember picking out carnations,
I knew you when you were my age now,
I’m trying to not lose myself in thought,
For years I’ve tried to find my way back,
I’ve passed you half a hundred times by now,
I’m trying to not remember,
I knew you when you were my age now,
I believe you. 

III: Dust

Tabernacle in dust,
this scattered inheritance
signal mirrors flickering,
distancing yourself 

Tabernacle in dust,
this scattered inheritance,
crystalline glow,
my warmth, my gaze 

Tabernacle in dust,
this scattered inheritance,
neighbors I never knew,
my only wish. 

Tabernacle in dust,
this scattered inheritance,
myriad of me,
becoming dust, before long.

At the heart of the Ad Astra Music Festival, our young artist program provides undergraduate voice students with professional performance opportunities. We accepted four YAs during the first week of March, mere days before the pandemic upended our lives. Although we will not be able to meet them in person, we wanted to ensure a platform for their music. Curated by Katelyn Mattson-Levy, Young Artists at Home features our YAs sharing their voices from their own living rooms.

PROGRAM

featuring
Elary Mede, soprano
Thereza Lituma, mezzo-soprano
Graham Brooks, tenor
Cole Bellamy, baritone

with
Katelyn Mattson-Levy, program curator

Student Life

Depuis le jour, by Gustave Charpentier
The Swimmer, by Edward Elgar
I Am the Very Model of a Modern Major-General, by Arthur Sullivan
O del mio amato ben, by Stefano Donaudy

Lockdown

Fly Me to the Moon, by Bart Howard
Dream a Little Dream of Me, by Fabian Andre
How Can I Keep from Singing, by Robert Lowry, arr. Lituma
You’ll Never Walk Alone, by Richard Rodgers

Uprising

We Shall Overcome, arr. Deke Sharon
Lift Every Voice and Sing, by J. Rosamond Johnson
MLK, by U2, arr. Bob Chilcott