Biography
The Bach Aria Soloists place Bach at the center of their programming while encompassing works that stretch from the Renaissance into the present day. Educational outreach forms a core priority for the ensemble, which regularly joins forces with performers and creators working in other disciplines.
Violinist Elizabeth Suh Lane established the Bach Aria Soloists in Kansas City during 1999 and continued to serve as the ensemble’s executive director into the early 2020s. Born in South Korea, Lane moved with her family to Baldwin City, Kansas, where her father held a faculty position at Baker College. After training in Switzerland and appearing with the London Symphony Orchestra, she sought a performance setting that would accommodate family responsibilities and greater scheduling flexibility. She chose the ensemble’s name in homage to New York’s former Bach Aria Group and obtained permission from that group’s violinist Danny Phillips. As of the early 2020s the remaining members included soprano Sarah Tannehill Anderson, featured on two Grammy-winning recordings by other Kansas City groups; Elisa Williams Bickers, active throughout the Kansas City area on harpsichord, organ, and piano; and cellist Hannah Collins, a University of Kansas faculty member. In 2012 the Bach Aria Soloists issued the album Hausmusik on the Tzigane label.
Although Bach remains central, the group’s repertory spans Renaissance pieces to new commissions, tango, and vocal arias. Appearances outside Kansas City earned the ensemble USArtists International grants from the Mid-Atlantic Arts Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Mellon Foundation in both 2016 and 2022. During a 2022 residency at the Thailand International Composition Festival the musicians gave the world premiere of Narong Prangcharoen’s Reticence for soprano, violin, cello, and harpsichord, presented additional concerts, and conducted a master class for composition students. Past collaborators have included trumpeter Rodney Marsalis, dancers from the Williams/Henry Contemporary Dance troupe, actors from the Heart of America Shakespeare Festival, visual artists, and Bach scholar Christoph Wolff. The BachReach education program has reached thousands of students in urban and suburban Kansas City schools through interactive sessions, orchestral and chamber-music clinics, and master classes. The ensemble released the album La dolce sirene on the Reference Recordings label in 2023.
Violinist Elizabeth Suh Lane established the Bach Aria Soloists in Kansas City during 1999 and continued to serve as the ensemble’s executive director into the early 2020s. Born in South Korea, Lane moved with her family to Baldwin City, Kansas, where her father held a faculty position at Baker College. After training in Switzerland and appearing with the London Symphony Orchestra, she sought a performance setting that would accommodate family responsibilities and greater scheduling flexibility. She chose the ensemble’s name in homage to New York’s former Bach Aria Group and obtained permission from that group’s violinist Danny Phillips. As of the early 2020s the remaining members included soprano Sarah Tannehill Anderson, featured on two Grammy-winning recordings by other Kansas City groups; Elisa Williams Bickers, active throughout the Kansas City area on harpsichord, organ, and piano; and cellist Hannah Collins, a University of Kansas faculty member. In 2012 the Bach Aria Soloists issued the album Hausmusik on the Tzigane label.
Although Bach remains central, the group’s repertory spans Renaissance pieces to new commissions, tango, and vocal arias. Appearances outside Kansas City earned the ensemble USArtists International grants from the Mid-Atlantic Arts Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Mellon Foundation in both 2016 and 2022. During a 2022 residency at the Thailand International Composition Festival the musicians gave the world premiere of Narong Prangcharoen’s Reticence for soprano, violin, cello, and harpsichord, presented additional concerts, and conducted a master class for composition students. Past collaborators have included trumpeter Rodney Marsalis, dancers from the Williams/Henry Contemporary Dance troupe, actors from the Heart of America Shakespeare Festival, visual artists, and Bach scholar Christoph Wolff. The BachReach education program has reached thousands of students in urban and suburban Kansas City schools through interactive sessions, orchestral and chamber-music clinics, and master classes. The ensemble released the album La dolce sirene on the Reference Recordings label in 2023.
Albums