Westport Center for the Arts’ 2022-23 Noontime Concert Series continues May 19, 2023 with a free performance by the Lyric Arts Trio. The program entitled “Music for Spring” will feature music about love and about gardening.  The noontime concerts are free (donations accepted) and held in the sanctuary at Westport Presbyterian Church, 201 Westport Road, Kansas City, MO 64111.

The Kansas City-based Lyric Arts Trio is a unique ensemble of clarinet, soprano voice and piano, and has been delighting audiences throughout the Midwest for more than 20 years.  One of the few professional organizations of its type, the trio excels at its elegant programs of solos, duos and trios. Recent performances have included the noted OK Mozart Festival, Grace and Holy Trinity Cathedral in Kansas City, and State Fair Community College in Missouri.

Coloratura soprano Sarah Tannehill Anderson is a versatile musician, excelling as a singer of opera, oratorio, choral music, contemporary works, and art song; she is also a pianist and violinist. She performed at companies including Opera Company of Philadelphia, Boston Lyric, Opera Omaha, Fort Worth Opera, and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, before coming to Kansas City. She is also a member of the Bach Aria Soloists, and the Kansas City Chorale , and is a featured soloist on the Chorale’s Grammy Award-winning album, “Life and Breath.”

Clarinetist Elena Lence Talley is a graduate with highest honors from the University of North Texas. She has performed with the Kansas City Symphony, where she is also the principal music librarian. Talley has also performed with the Lyric Opera Orchestra of Kansas City, the Missouri Symphony, the Kansas City Camerata and the Kansas City Chamber Orchestra. The author of several cover stories for the Clarinet magazine, she was membership coordinator of the International Clarinet Association for ten years. Talley has taught at Emporia State University and Mid-America Nazarene University. She has performed at the International Clarinet Association ClarFest, the International Double Reed Society conference and the University of Oklahoma Clarinet Symposium. Talley is the founder of the Lyric Arts Trio.

An active performer and teacher, Dan Velicer performs regularly with the Kansas City Symphony, the Lyric Arts Trio and Summerfest and is the rehearsal pianist for the Kansas City Symphony Chorus. He frequently collaborates with members of the Kansas City Symphony and UMKC faculty and helps prepare students for recitals and competitions. Previously, Velicer was an Opera Coach Fellow at the Aspen Music Festival, head staff pianist at the University of the Pacific Conservatory of Music, chamber music coach and artist performer at the Rocky Mountain Summer Conservatory and member of Trio Fedele. He is a graduate of Cornell University, majoring in both anthropology and music, and Rice University, where he received a master’s degree in piano chamber music and accompanying.