The distinct architectural styles of these three Collins Street churches, each designed by Joseph Reed provided the inspiration for a diverse, roving choral program that responded to the spatial qualities of each building.

Joseph Reed was arguably Melbourne's most influential Victorian era architect; the designer of such buildings as the State Library of Victoria, Melbourne Trades Hall and St Paul's Cathedral.

On Sunday September 28, 1986 the Astra Chamber Music Choir with soloists and chamber orchestra performed pieces by Hildegard von Bingen, Mauricio Kagel, Dieter Schnebel, Franz Liszt, Helen Gifford, Robert Schuman, Keith Humble and WA Mozart. No audio is available for this concert.

Scots Church, Collins Street Baptist Church, and St Michaels Uniting Church are of historical and architectural significance to the State of Victoria. For more information visit the listings on the Victorian Heritage Register.

For 30 years, the concerts of Astra Chamber Music Society have ranged around Melbourne’s architectural environment. Each concert has had a site-specific design that takes advantage of the marvellous visual qualities, spatial possibilities, and acoustic personality of each building. The music, in turn, contributes a new quality to the perception of the buildings, now experienced by audiences as a sounding space - an area where cultural issues from music’s history are traversed, and new ideas in Australian composition are explored.