From tangos to folk music, from an English children's opera to a Russian oratorio, this year's Madeleine Festival of the Arts and Humanities lives up to festival co-director Drew Browning's goal of presenting concerts one ordinarily wouldn't come across.

"We try to come up with unique offerings and try to do things that people won't see several times a year," Browning said. "It's important for us to offer a wide variety of programs that are appropriate to this sacred space (the Cathedral of the Madeleine)."

The Madeleine Festival kicks off its 18th season tonight at 8 with an unusual program spotlighting two University of Utah performing groups — the Harp Ensemble and the University Singers. The music will range from sacred songs to South American folk music and pieces by Gerald Finzi, Ottorino Respighi and Manuel de Falla.

"This is an ambitious concert," Browning said, "but the Harp Ensemble and the University Singers are two very polished groups."

The featured work at today's concert, however, is the oratorio "La Luce Delle Tacite Stelle" ("The Light of the Silent Stars"), for harp ensemble and chorus, by the contemporary Russian composer Valeri Kikta. Brady Allred, director of the University Singers, will conduct.

"I love this work," said Harp Ensemble director ShruDeLi Ownbey. "It's an extraordinary piece and very beautiful." Ownbey's group has never performed the entire work. "We played one movement once," she said. "That was with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, and we did it with 21 harps."

For today's performance, Ownbey said her group will be pared down to a more manageable size. "We're using 12 harps, and Brady's group will be at 40 voices."

This will be the first time the Harp Ensemble is taking part in the Madeleine Festival. "This is a big deal for us," Ownbey said. "We've always wanted to play in this beautiful cathedral. It (the acoustics) is friendly to the harp and I think it's going to be an uplifting experience."

A highlight at this year's festival will be the first fully staged performance in Utah of Britten's opera "Noye's Fludde," on May 19-21. "This is something that (Madeleine Choir School director) Gregory Glenn has wanted to do for years," Browning said.

The short opera tells the story of Noah and the flood and is aimed toward children. Most of the roles will be performed by children, and collaborating with the choir school will be the Children's Dance Theatre. Noye and his wife will be sung by adults (Tyler Oliphant and Aubrey Adams, respectively). The voice of God will be taken by Anne Cullimore Decker and Tony Larimer. The Utah Symphony & Opera will help with the staging and costumes.

"It's costly to do something like this," Browning said. "That's why we decided to do a benefit performance (on May 19) to help defray the cost. But we're excited about doing it, and it will be a nice gift to the community and a nice way to celebrate the school's 10th anniversary.' "