RUSSELL – The Ad Astra Music Festival colors central Kansas with classical music during the month of July.

Bringing over 60 artists from all around the country, Ad Astra is a unique music festival, spanning three weekends in July and integrating emerging young artists, community members, and professional musicians.

The third weekend of performances includes the famous Bach’s St. Matthew Passion on July 28, and Compline by Candlelight on July 29.

Bach’s St. Matthew Passion will take audiences immersively through modern stations of the cross. The Russell Community Choir will sing parts of the work, while visiting artists will perform the bulk of the piece in a style close to what would have been heard in Bach’s time. Contemporary selections highlighting grief will be woven into the 1727 sacred oratorio.

Compline by Candlelight is a foreboding meditation on Psalm 51, Have mercy on me, O God.  An octet of unconducted singers lead this 30-minute service, illuminated only by the candlelight of congregants in the Basilica of St. Fidelis, Victoria.

To learn more about our performances, please visit adastramusicfestival.org/calendar.

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