A perenniel festival favorite, Zeller is seen in the 2009 Astoria Music Festival production of "The Fairy Queen."

Formidable singers in over-the-top costumes loudly singing some story with an absurdly confusing plot. That’s what a lot of people, maybe most people, maybe you think of when someone says “opera.”

The Astoria Music Festival is giving you a chance to think again.

Last year’s sold-out hit was the first opera based on a comic book (or is that “graphic novel”?), and you certainly can’t call “Too Much Coffee Man” absurd. It’s about a man in a red union suit with a huge coffee cup on his head who falls in love with a barista who eventually becomes some kind of superheroine. We all know that familiar story. It happens all the time so often, in fact, that local coffeehouses sponsored the show.

A “refill” of “Too Much Coffee Man” was planned for this year’s festival, but had to be canceled at the last moment. So the fare this year is more traditional but no less entertaining and the music will be sublime.

Three operas are scheduled (one is a “mini-opera” and another is billed as “Opera for Five Bucks”), as well as a concert by an operatic superstar and a lot more, from children’s performances to KMUN Manager Joanne Rideout’s return to the stage.

If you haven’t noticed, Astoria’s local music festival is drawing international stars and getting quite a reputation. It’s been recognized as one of Oregon’s best fine arts festivals, and last year’s production of the opera “Wozzeck” is in the running for the American Prize for opera. Maestro Keith Clark, the festival’s artistic director, is also a semifinalist in the opera conducting category.

This year, in what may be the greatest musical event ever presented in Astoria, the festival brings to the stage one of the finest sopranos in American operatic history, Ruth Ann Swenson, in a concert of Mozart and Mahler. Opportunities like this are rare indeed, and there is no need to say more, other than this: Don’t miss it.

The 2011 festival’s major opera production is Verdi’s “Il Trovatore.” One of the most popular operas ever written, it has an evil count, a vengeful gypsy woman, a passionate troubadour, love, death and a mysterious power. The only thing missing is coffee. Enrico Caruso once said of “Il Trovatore” that a successful performance only required the four greatest singers in the world. The Astoria Music Festival has come close to Caruso’s ideal, with a cast that stars the latest sensational Metropolitan Opera diva, Angela Meade, who happens to almost be a local girl (she comes from Washington). Richard Zeller, he of the magnificent baritone and a perennial festival favorite, plays the evil Count Luna. Tenor Daniel Snyder, Canadian mezzo-soprano Rebecca Hass and local favorite Deac Guidi round out the cast.

The “mini opera” is Maxwell Davies’ “Eight Songs for a Mad King,” starring John Duykers (who played the pompous captain in last year’s “Wozzeck”) as King George III. The North Coast Chorale and the Baroque Band will join soprano Amy Hansen and organist Julia Brown in a presentation of music by Handel, the mad king’s favorite composer.

The final opera is Mozart’s “The Marriage of Figaro.” A comic opera that is one of the world’s favorites, the festival has managed to make it a unique event or two events. The first is a Master Class with Swenson and singers from the Vocal Artist Apprentice Program, who will perform the opera. This is a unique chance to see the making of singers and of a performance. The other reason this “Figaro” is unique is the ticket price: $5.

The Music Festival, like the rest of Astoria, is celebrating the town’s bicentennial, and there will be three evenings of music composed in 1811. The first is the Gala Opening Concert Friday, June 17, when the brilliant cellist and “chick magnet” Sergey Antonov, who has become a festival regular, joins Clark and the Festival Orchestra for a program of Beethoven (“Overture to King Stephen” and the Seventh Symphony, both composed in 1811) and Saint Saens’ Cello Concerto No. 1 in A Minor.

A week later, Friday, June 24, it’s Beethoven’s Archduke Trio (again, 1811) and Tchaikovsky’s “Souvenir de Florence,” featuring the Festival All-Stars. On Sunday afternoon there will be even more Beethoven, including the Turkish March from “The Ruins of Athens” (1811) for the Grand Finale.

Every year, the Astoria Music Festival puts on one extraordinary performance after another. There are Chamber Music, Croissants, and Coffee concerts at local churches. Joanne Rideout narrates the story of “Mozart’s Journey to Prague” with performances by Hansen, Guidi and the Festival Chamber Players. There are two “happy hour” concerts (one with Antonov), which are followed by Q & A sessions. There are two “Classics for Kids” at the Clatsop Community College Performing Arts Center, with help from Debbie Twombly and the Troll Radio Review.

Even if the Astoria Music Festival doesn’t turn you into an opera fanatic, you’re sure to find something that froths your latte.

You can find out details at www.astoriamusicfestival.org or by calling the festival office at (503) 325-9896.