Here’s how Kansas City’s Bach Aria Soloists will celebrate their 25th season

BY PATRICK NEAS SPECIAL TO THE STAR MAY 31, 2024

Jazz pianist Helen Sung is composing a piece for Bach Aria Soloists for the group’s season finale. KATHY VILLACORTE

Time flies when you’re making great music. The Bach Aria Soloists, one of Kansas City’s finest ensembles, will celebrate their 25th anniversary next season, and they’ve lined up a series that reflects the kind of music they do so well. Lots of music by Bach, of course, but also jazzy improvisations and a concert to celebrate a daft knight-errant.

The season begins with a “25th Anniversary Bash” Sept. 27 at the Guild KC in the Crossroads. The whole group, violinist and artistic director Elizabeth Suh Lane, keyboardist Elisa Williams Bickers and soprano Sarah Tannehill Anderson, will perform. Roger Wilder, jazz pianist and instructor at the University of Missouri-Kansas City’s Conservatory of Music, will provide smooth listening between sets, and there will be organic, locally sourced food to nosh on. “Bach Unlocked” with Bach scholar Christoph Wolff and guest cellist Paula Kosower is Nov. 8 at Village Presbyterian Church. “It’s at Village because we want to use their magnificent organ,” Lane, who founded Bach Aria Soloists, said. “It’ll be an all-Bach program, and we’ll have Elisa do two big organ works and we’ll also do a constructed suite that will feature each of our instruments. Sarah will perform three different arias.”

Wolff, a world-renowned Bach scholar and professor emeritus at Harvard University, will give commentary throughout the concert. “He’s 82, and I feel really fortunate that he agreed very quickly to come to do this concert with us,” Lane said. The annual holiday concert Dec. 14 at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church will feature baritone Cameron J. Rolling.

“He was here in Kansas City for a few years, and now he’s with Detroit Opera,” Lane said. “Of course, we’ll perform Bach, Mozart, Vivaldi and Handel, but I’ve asked Cameron if there are any gospel tunes that he would like to do. He’ll do a lot of duets with Sarah.” On Feb. 15, the bumbling knight Don Quixote and his ungainly horse, Rocinante, amble back to Kansas City. “Adventures of Don Quixote” has been one of Bach Aria Soloists’ biggest hits, so it’s appropriate they’re bringing it back for the group’s 25th anniversary. “We haven’t done it in several years,” Lane said. “We’re doing it at a new venue called the Zhou Brothers Arts Center. They’ve renovated this school which is in the Jazz District, just east of the Gem Theater. I thought it would be nice to do something in a new venue like that. It’s also a great opportunity for the community and our special patrons to come see this new space.”

Mark Robbins will narrate the Don’s various misadventures while the group plays Spanish baroque canciones and dances, as well as selections from the “Don Quixote Suite” by Telemann. Guitarist Beau Bledsoe is an important part of the show. The season will conclude with “Helen Sung Meets Bach Aria Soloists” April 5 at the Folly Theater. Sung is a big deal in the jazz world. She won the Mary Lou Williams Jazz Piano Competition in 2007, has appeared at the Monterey Jazz Festival and has toured the world, playing with jazz greats like Clark Terry and Ron Carter and classical musicians like the Harlem Quartet. She’s composing a piece for Bach Aria Soloists.

“I have no idea what it is yet,” Lane said. “It doesn’t even have a name. But I do know it’s a multi-movement work inspired by Bach. It will be for our entire ensemble, including Elisa on harpsichord and Helen on jazz piano. Sarah might not necessarily sing words, maybe just vocalizing as a jazz singer would. We still have a lot to flesh out because there are so many possibilities.” For more information, bachariasoloists.com.

7 p.m. Sept. 27. 25th Anniversary Bash. The Guild KC, 1621 Locust St.

7:30 p.m. Nov. 8. “Bach Unlocked” with Bach scholar Christoph Wolff, Paula Kosower, cello. Village Presbyterian Church, 6641 Mission Road, Prairie Village.

7:30 p.m. Dec. 14. Annual Holiday Concert. Guest baritone, Cameron J. Rolling. St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, 11 E. 40th St.

7:30 p.m. Feb. 15. “Adventures of Don Quixote.” Mark Robbins, actor, Beau Bledsoe, guitar, Sascha Groschang, cello. Zhou Brothers Art Center, 1801 E. 18th St.

7:30 p.m. April 5. “Helen Sung Meets Bach Aria Soloists.” Helen Sung, piano, Hannah Collins, cello. Folly Theater, 300 W. 12th St.

This article originally appeared in the Kansas City Star. Read more at: https://www.kansascity.com/entertainment/kansas-city/article288732090.html