Soprano Natalie Gunn returns to the Liberty Theater Saturday, April 29, to perform in Astoria Performing Arts' production of 'Mozart's Journey to Prague.' Submitted photo.

Plan to find a seat at the Liberty Theater Saturday, April 29, when conductor Keith Clark leads a multimedia concert of classical music centered on a trip Mozart made in 1787. The concert is based on the novella, “Mozart’s Journey to Prague,” written in 1855 by one of Germany’s greatest lyric poets, Eduard Mörike. The story is an imaginary depiction of the journey Mozart made from Vienna to Prague to conduct the first performance of “Don Giovanni.” Set in the rococo world of the Austro-Bohemian nobility, the story paints an unforgettable portrait of Mozart’s creative genius – its playful heights and its terrible depths.

Mozart’s relations with the citizens of Prague form a happy chapter in the sad story of his last years. The concert is composed of chamber works from Mozart’s time in Prague interspersed with readings from the novella. Featured will be Mozart’s “Prague” Symphony No. 38 in D Major, K. 504. This symphony distinguishes itself from the 40-odd symphonies that Mozart had previously written by being noticeably more difficult to perform.

The concert showcases leading performers from the Pacific Northwest. Violin prodigy Nick Croza will be a featured performer of solo passages with the chamber orchestra. Soprano Natalie Gunn will sing rarely performed concert arias composed for performance in Prague. Croza performed in January’s performance of Mozart’s opera, “Cosi fan tutte,” and Gunn was in last summer’s performances of “L’elisir d’amore” and “The Sopranos” concert. Rounding out the performers is Portland actress Diedre Atkinson, who will be reading passages from Mörike’s novella.

Astoria Performing Arts Director Lawrence Taylor said the organization is delighted to bring back conductor Keith Clark, who in January conducted at the Liberty Theater a brilliant performance of Mozart’s masterpiece opera, “Cosi fan tutte.” Clark is once again music director for this summer’s upcoming Astoria Music Festival, returning after a year off. He is making arrangements for staging in Astoria the U.S. premiere of “Der Stern der Weisen,” the long-lost opera written collaboratively by Mozart and his friends.

Saturday’s concert begins at 7:30 p.m. at the Liberty Theater, 1203 Commercial St. Tickets range from $15 to $20. Reserved and general seats can be purchased at all Safeway TicketsWest Ticket Centers, charged by phone at (800) 992-8499 or on the Internet at www.AstoriaPerformingArts.com. General admission tickets are also sold in Astoria at the Hotel Elliott, 357 12th St., and Adagio, 1174 Commercial St. Tickets will be available at the theater at 6 p.m. the day of the performance.

Coast Community Radio’s new station, KCPB-FM 90.9, will offer its initial “Live from the Liberty” broadcast at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, April 29, with “Mozart’s Journey to Prague,” a multimedia orchestral production at the Liberty Theater. Other live broadcasts, including a late May opera festival, will follow.

Coast Community Radio has collaborated with the Liberty Theater and Astoria Performing Arts to broadcast performances live on a regular basis. Saturday’s program will be rebroadcast on KMUN and KTCB at 9 a.m. Sunday, April 30. KCPB, like its sister stations, is dedicated in part to making educational and entertainment programming available to those who may not be able to access event venues.

Owned and operated by the Tillicum Foundation, the nonprofit membership corporation that operates KMUN-FM Astoria and KTCB-FM Tillamook, KCPB offers a blend of talk and entertainment productions from National Public Radio, Public Radio International and BBC, as well as other independently produced, syndicated, noncommercial programming.

Like its sister stations, KCPB will rely on community support. More than one-third of Coast Community Radio’s income is derived from listener members. For a full KCPB program schedule, visit www.coastradio.org

A low power station, KCPB’s signal is expected to reach communities with a line of sight to the station’s Megler Mountain transmitter. Listeners in Astoria, eastern Astoria and Warrenton, as well as Nahcotta, Long Beach and Ilwaco, Wash., have reported good reception. KCPB can also be heard traveling south through Seaside. Over the next year, the Tillicum Foundation will work to improve reception quality.