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.

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.

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.

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.