Elizabeth Suh Lane, founder, executive/artistic director, and solo violinist of the BAS has performed concerts world wide as a chamber, solo, and orchestral musician. She was a member of the London Symphony Orchestra, and performed regularly with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, and the Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields. Since her return to the US, she has performed with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and is in demand as a chamber musician across the US. She performs regular chamber music concerts with violinists, Andy Simionescu and Anna Lim; cellist, Paula Kosower, and recently with Matt Haimovitz and Nokuthula Ngwenyama, violist. She will perform with the Maia Quartet in 2010.
Mar 28 2010 - Bach Sonata No 1 in g minor ‘Presto’, Elizabeth Suh Lane (violin)
Rebecca Lloyd is the soprano for the BAS. She has appeared numerous times at Carnegie Hall under the direction of the late Robert Shaw. She has been the featured soloist with orchestras throughout the US, including the Kansas City Chamber Orchestra, and the Kansas City Symphony. she sings with the Kansas City Chorale and Lyric Opera Express.
Elisa Bickers is active across the country as a solo organist, continuo harpsichordist, and piano accompanist. Along with being instructor of organ at Washburn University, and UMKC Conservatory of Music, she is organist/pianist at Village Presbyterian Church. She has a background in improvisation and organ building. Mrs. Bickers won first prize in the William Hall Competition in organ performance in 2006, as well as the hymn playing prize. This past year, she was a semifinalist in the National Young Artists Competition in Organ Performance, sponsored by the American Guild of Organists. Mrs. Bickers is a native of Clinton, Maryland. She has earned a Bachelor’s degree in church music and a Master’s degree in organ performance from Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, studying with H. Joseph Butler. She holds a doctorate in church music (with emphasis on organ performance) from the University of Kansas.
Beau Bledsoe is constantly evolving by exploring new repertoire, cultures and programming. His studies in southern Spain and involvement with the tango scene of Buenos Aires have led him to create a large body of evocative arrangements, transcriptions and compositions. Mr. Bledsoe has worked extensively with the Guthrie Theater, classical violinist Gregory Sandomirsky and with the Argentine Tango quintet Tango Lorca, as well as Flamenco dancers Miel Castagna and Rey Duran. His music is regularly programmed on radio1 BBC, “Segovia a Yupanki” Radio Nacional Argentina, and “All Songs Considered” on NPR.
2010-2011 Guest Soloists
Bobby Watson, saxophonist, composer, producer and educator, Bobby Watson grew up in Kansas City, KS. He trained at the University of Miami. After graduating, he proceeded to earn his doctorate on the bandstand — as musical director of Art Blakeys Jazz Messengers. After completing his tenure as a Jazz Messenger Watson became a much-sought after musician, working along the way with notable musicians, peers, elder statesmen and colleagues including, but not limited to: drummers Max Roach and Louis Hayes, fellow saxophonists George Coleman and Branford Marsalis, celebrated multi-instrumentalist Sam Rivers and trumpeter Wynton Marsalis who joined the Jazz Messengers at least in part at the suggestion of Watson. In association with bassist Curtis Lundy and drummer Victor Lewis, Watson launched the first edition of Horizon, an acoustic quintet modeled in many ways after the Jazz Messengers but one with its own distinct slightly more modern twist. Watson also led a group known as the High court of Swing (a tribute to the music of Johnny Hodges), The Grammy nominated Tailor-Made Big Band (16 pieces in all) and is a founding member of the highly acclaimed 29th Street Saxophone Quartet, an all-horn, four-piece group. Watson also wrote original music for the sound track of Robert DeNiros directorial debut A Bronx Tale. All told, Bobby Watson, the immensely talented and now seasoned veteran has some 26 recordings as a leader. He appears on close to 100 other recordings as either co-leader or in a supporting role for other like-minded musicians. Watson has recorded more than 100 original compositions In 2000, he was approached to return to his native midwestern surroundings on the Kansas-Missouri border. Watson accepted the challenge and subsequently that same year he was selected as the first William D. and Mary Grant/Missouri, Distinguished Professorship in Jazz Studies. The past six years he has served as the director of jazz studies at the University of Missouri/Kansas City, Conservatory of Music although he still manages to balance live engagements throughout the world with his teaching responsibilities.
Héctor Del Curto, Argentinean bandoneónist praised by the New York Times as a “splendid player”, has captivated the audiences around the world as a soloist and chamber musician, sharing the stage with the world–renowned tango legends Astor Piazzolla and Osvaldo Pugliese, pianist Pablo Ziegler, clarinetist Paquito D´Rivera, ballet dancer Julio Bocca, National Symphony Orchestra, Buenos Aires Symphony Orchestra and Teatro Colón Ballet among many others. After a Carnegie Hall concert in April 1999 with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra and outstanding artists such as Gary Burton, Joe Lovano, Pablo Ziegler, famous tango singers José Angel Trelles and Maria Graña, the New York Times highlighted Mr. Del Curto´s artistry, making special mention of his “wistful, piercing solos on the bandoneón.”
Jeff Harshbarger, voted Kansas City’s Best Bassist by Pitch Magazine in 2007, Jeff has had quite an eclectic career. A prolific composer and bandleader in his own right. Jeff has recorded and performed across the globe with such varied groups as Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey, Bobby Watson, Curtis Fuller, Forever Tango, Eugene Chadborne, Mitt Abel, Tango and dozens more. He is a co-founder of Tzigane Music, an artist-run collective and record label, and is the curator of Jeff Harshbarger Presents: An Alternative Jazz Series, promoting new improvised music in Kansas City. Jeff has received numerous grants and awards, including The Kennedy Center’s Betty Carter Fellowship, the Steans Institute Fellowship and the Professional Development Grant from the Creative Capital Foundation. He was recently an Artist in Residence for Escape to Create in Seaside, Florida.
Gustavo Casenave, Hailed by Jazz Times for playing “with distinct straight–a–head jazz feeling at times and melds into the elaborate voicings of the tango” pianist Gustavo Casenave performed and recorded with numerous acclaimed artists in New York City . He has been touring throughout Europe, Asia, South America, Central America and United States, performing in the prestigious festivals and concert halls throughout the world. As a composer, Mr. Casenave composed and arranged over 200 works which includes original music for featured movies He received the prestigious OEA (Organization of American States) scholarship to study at Berklee College of Music in Boston where he was received “Professional Music Achievement” award and his composition “Fragiltimer for the Past Future” was named the one of ten best original compositions from Berklee College of Music in last 30 years.
Douglas Niedt, guitar, is head of the guitar program of the UMKC Conservatory of Music. He began guitar at age seven in his native St. Louis. He later studied at the Julliard School and the Segovia Master Classes in Spain, and with Christopher Parkening, Narciso Yepes, and Jorge Morel. At age twenty-one he made his New York debut at Carnegie Recital Hall and has thrilled audiences here and abroad ever since. One critic wrote, “Mr. Niedt is not only a brilliant master of his instrument, but a performer of great sensitivity. The wealth of sound and the dynamic finesse which he elicits from the guitar promise to make him a worthy companion of the few great guitarists such as Andres Segovia and Julian Bream.“ His numerous books and recordings are available through http://www.DouglasNiedt.com.
Sarah Tannehill, Coloratura Soprano, has sung with Chicago Chamber Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, North Shore Choral Society, Southern Illinois Symphony, Wichita Symphony, Sheboygan Symphony Orchestra, the Kansas City Chamber Orchestra, the New Ear Ensemble of Kansas City, and the Kansas City Symphony. On the operatic stage, Sarah has performed leading operatic roles with the Boston Lyric Opera, Opera Company of Philadelphia, Opera Omaha, Fort Worth Opera, Opera Theatre of St. Louis, and the Saarländisches Staatstheatre in Saarbrücken, Germany. Shortly after Sarah’s move to Kansas City in 2006, she received rave reviews for singing her first Ophelia in Thomas’ Hamlet with the Kansas City Lyric, after only a few hours notice. Sarah received her Masters at the UMKC Conservatory in 1999. She is a member of the Grammy Award-winning Kansas City Chorale and has won three Emmy’s of her own for her film work with the Missouri Conservation Department. She teaches voice in Kansas City and at William Jewell College.
Joshua Lawlor, baritone, recently completed his Masters in Voice Performance at the University of Kansas. The young baritone is enjoying his expanding repertoire as a soloist. Joshua has appeared in many challenging modern operetta roles, including recently creating the role of Klim for the world premiere of the twelve-tone operetta Devkino Road by Daniel Musselman, as well as a number of musical theatre roles. He holds a Music Performance degree from William Jewell College, though he completed a term studying music history and singing choral music at Oxford University. In addition to solo work, Joshua is currently the youngest member of the Kansas City Chorale, Kansas City’s only professional choral ensemble.
Past Soloists
David Adams, tenor, has performed in a variety of settings throughout the United States and Europe. His work in opera has been regarded as ‘light and flexible, yet fiery and expressive’. Specializing in the music of Handel, Mozart, and Rossini, Mr. Adams has performed with opera companies throughout the United States, including The Metropolitan Opera, Santa Fe Opera, Opera Orchestra of New York, The Caramoor Festival (with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s), New York City Opera, Wolf Trap Opera, The Kansas City Chamber Orchestra, and Pittsburgh Opera Summer Series. On the concert stage, as well as oratorios by Orff, Mendelssohn, Haydn, and Handel. Recent and upcoming engagements include performances of Il Barbiere di Siviglia and Die Zauberflote, numerous recitals in Kansas City, an alumni guest appearance as Tenor Soloist in Bach’s The St. Matthew Passion, Beethoven’s Mass in C with the Kansas City Chamber Orchestra, and a concert of Sea Songs and Stories with the Philadelphia Chamber Orchestra.
Martin Storey, cello, British-born cellist, Martin Storey, cello, is a graduate of the Royal Academy of Music in London and continued his studies at the New England Conservatory in Boston as a Fulbright Scholar. He has served as the principal cellist with the London Symphony Orchestra, The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and the BBC Symphony Orchestra. He performs regularly in Japan and England as a soloist. He is currently an assistant professor of Music, and a faculty member for the Youth Conservatory for Music and the International Center for Music at Park University.
Matthew Johnson, cello, joined BAS in 2006. Matt is a graduate of the the University of Southern California, where he studied with Ron Leonard and Andrew Shulman. Mr. Johnson moved to Kansas City in 2004 after winning a position in the Kansas City Symphony. He has performed throughout North America and Europe, and has soloed with numerous orchestras such as the American Youth Symphony in Los Angeles and the Utah Symphony. As a chamber musician, Matthew has participated in music festivals such as Sarasota and Schleswig-Holstein (Germany). In addition to teaching privately, Mr. Johnson is an instructor in the Kansas City String Quartet Program. Matthew lives in downtown Kansas City with his wife, Tina, a violinist in the Kansas City Symphony.
Janet Kraybill is harpsichordist and organist of the BAS. She is the principal organist and Worship Specialist at the Community of Christ World Headquarters in Independence, Missouri and performs regularly on the famous Acolian-Skinner Auditorium organ, and the Casavant organ. She has concertized as pianist and organist throughout the US, Russia, Poland, and the United Kingdom and is an active masterclass/workshop clinician.
Janet Kraybill, organ, performs Johann Sebastian Bach’s Prelude & fugue in D major, BWV 532 (4:34)
Robert Gibby Brand, Actor/Baritone, has been a guest artist with the Bach Aria Soloists, singing arias from Bach’s Cantatas 21 and 140 on the BAS Hauskonzert series, and at the Nelson-Atkins Museum. He has most recently appeared in Kansas City Repertory Theatre’s A Christmas Carol, and in October, 2006, he performed with the Kansas City Ballet in Mahler’s Kindertotenlieder. Familiar to Kansas City audiences as an actor and a singer, he has performed with the Kansas City Lyric Opera, Quality Hill Playhouse, Actors’ Theatre of Kansas City, the New Theatre, the Unicorn Theater, and he has been a frequent actor with the Heart of America Shakespeare Festival. Brand resides in Kansas City with his wife, director, Linda Ade Brand, and daughter, Julia.
Stephan Casurella, harpsichord, was born in England, where he began studying piano, organ, and music composition at an early age. He moved to the United States in 1987, where he continued studying music and won numerous performance awards and scholarships. In 1994 Casurella earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in piano performance and music composition from Seattle Pacific University, graduating summa cum laude. Two years later he was awarded a Master of Music degree in piano performance from the University of Missouri–Kansas City where he studied with Richard Cass. In 1999 he received a second M. M. degree in composition from UMKC. Casurella is currently working toward a Doctor of Musical Arts Degree in church music at the University of Kansas. Casurella currently serves as Principal Organist/Associate Director of Music at Village Presbyterian Church in Prairie Village, KS. He lives with his wife Rae and two sons Ryan and Aidan in Mission, KS.
Paula Kosower, cello, has given concerts in Europe, North and South America, China and North Korea. She recently performed at the Ravinia Festival and Mostly Music Festival in Chicago, and performs regularly with Chicago-based contemporary ensemble, CUBE, the cutting-edge Intergalactic Contemporary Ensemble (ICE), and the Chicago Symphony. Ms Kosower teaches a course in cello pedagogy at Northwestern University, private lessons at the Northwestern University String Academy and chamber music at the Merit School of Music where she is a member of the faculty piano trio. She received her Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees from Indiana University where she was a student of Janos Starker.
Un Chong Christopheris the mezzo-soprano/contralto for the BAS. She has performed throughout the US, the Republic of South Africa, Swaziland, Zimbabwe, Zambia, and was the featured soloist at the Seoul Bible Conference. She is adjunct professor of voice at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, and voice professor at Rockhurst College. She is also an accomplished pianist and accompanist.
Allen Probus, cello, has been a cellist in the Kansas City Symphony since 2002. He holds a master’s degree with the Cleveland Institute of Music, having studied with Stephen Geber, former principal cellist of the Cleveland Orchestra. While in Cleveland, Allen was also principal cellist of the Canton Symphony Orchestra and acting assistant principal of the Akron Symphony Orchestra. He has performed with the Cleveland Orchestra and has toured Europe and the Far East with the Detroit and Pittsburgh Symphonies. Past summer festival engagements have included the Eastern Music Festival, Grand Teton Music Festival, Spoleto USA, Blossom Music Festival, and the National Repertory Orchestra.
Dr. Jane Solose, harpsichord, Associate Professor of Piano and Chair of the Keyboard Division, received her early music training at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto and is a graduate of the University of Toronto and University of Western Ontario in Canada, and the Eastman School of Music, University of Rochester, where she was awarded their prestigious Performer’s Certificate. Her active career as a featured concerto soloist, recitalist, chamber musician, duo pianist, and master teacher has taken her to Korea, Japan, Austria, Hungary, Canada, and around the U.S. Her articles have been published in the journals 20th Century Music and Clavier. Duo Solose, a duo-piano collaboration with her sister Kathleen has performed to enthusiastic ovations in Austria, Hungary, the U.S. and Canada.
Sascha Groschang has performed numerous solo recitals and as an Artists International Special Presentation Winner, gave her solo debut recital at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall in February of 2009. She has appeared at Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall as a chamber and orchestral musician, including as a featured soloist with country artist Clay Walker, and as associate principal of the National Youth Symphony. She has shared the stage with Yo-Yo Ma, Itzhak Perlman, Nadia Salerno-Sonnenberg, Jonathan Biss, Robert Levin, Sharon Isbin, Vladimir Feltsman and Pepe Romero. She has been a member of the Des Moines Symphony and held an associate position in the Civic Orchestra of Chicago for the 2006-2007 season. In addition to classical music, Sascha is an avid performer of non-traditional and popular styles such as folk, jazz and contemporary music. She has extensive recording experience, including sessions for the recording artists Ashanti and Joanna Newsome, Rhino Records and NBC. She will be traveling to Malaysia in November of 2009 as an invited member of the Malaysian International Festival Orchestra.