Soloists
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 first violinist with 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, Chicago’s Music of the Baroque, and is in demand as a chamber musician across the US.
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.
Un Chong Christopher is 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.
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.
Guest Soloists
Meredith Barreth, alto, holds a Masters Degree in Vocal Performance from Florida International University where she served as the graduate teaching assistant for the vocal area. This is her second season with the Kansas City Chorale. Several roles to her credit include Filia in Jephthah, Carolina in Il Matrimonio Segreto, as well as being a featured soloist for Rutter’s Requiem. Meredith taught at the all-girls school, Carrollton School of the Sacred Heart in Miami, F lorida for five years prior to coming to Kansas City.
Rebecca Bell, harpsichordist, studied at the Royal College of Music in London, where she won the prize for clavichord playing while studying with Ruth Dyson and Robert Woolley. A former Rotary Foundation Scholar, she has played in concerts in the USA, Canada, and Europe, and has made several recordings. She plays regularly with the Kansas City Chamber Orchestra, also with the Kansas City Symphony, and with an eclectic homeschool ensemble. She’s the music director at All Saints Episcopal Church in Kansas City, Missouri. Rebecca is the editor of the Alberto Contador Notebook, an online magazine for fans of two-time Tour de France winner Alberto Contador. Thanks to Dr. Geoffrey Blatt.
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.
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.
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, she is the accompanist for the Lawrence Women’s Chorale and organist/pianist at First United Methodist Church in Lawrence. 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 is currently pursuing a doctorate in church music (with emphasis on organ performance) at the University of Kansas, studying with Michael Bauer.
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.
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.
Past Soloists
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.
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.
facebook![Vote for Us](http://apps.facebook.com/chasecommunitygiving/charities/465306?src=embed"><imgsrc="http://a1.chase.contextoptional.com/images/vote_for_us.jpg?1258698490"/></a>)
Vote for Us
