About
Mezzo soprano Aidan Soder joined the UMKC Conservatory voice faculty in 2007. A graduate of Rice University’s prestigious Shepherd School of Music, Dr. Soder has performed throughout the US in concert, opera, and recital with the Alabama Symphony, Omaha Symphony, Glimmerglass Opera, Delaware Symphony, Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, and the Houston Symphony, as well as abroad in Austria, Bulgaria, India, and England. Her diverse repertoire includes performances of Schoenberg’s
Pierrot lunaire, Bach’s
St. Matthew Passion, Berio’s
Circles, Massenet’s
Werther, Britten’s
Albert Herring, and Mahler's
Das klagende Lied, Kindertotenlieder, and Symphony #2.
Well-regarded as a pedagogue and technician, Dr. Soder has presented master classes throughout the U.S. and Europe. Early in her teaching career, she participated in the NATS Intern Program; was a founding faculty member of the International Performing Arts Institute (IPAI) in Kiefersfelden, Germany; and taught Voice and Acting for Singers at Michigan’s prestigious Interlochen Arts Camp from 2011-17. Her students have participated in numerous Young Artist programs throughout the US and in Europe; they hold full-time academic appointments at various colleges and universities; and they have been the recipients of several prestigious awards, including the Jack Kent Cooke Scholarship, the Fulbright Award, and a PEO Scholar Award, among others, all which have allowed for scholarly and performing opportunities in Scotland, Germany, and France.
Dr. Soder’s scholarly and performing interests include the music of Schoenberg, performance practice-related issues in contemporary music, French mélodie of the early 20th century, and art song of living American composers. Dr. Soder premiered and recorded two song cycles by composer Karim Al-Zand:
Orange Torches Against the Rain (
Studies in Nature – Centaur Records) and
Tagore Love Songs, featured on the CD
Tagoriana (Albany Records), which is collection of songs set to the poetry of Indian Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore.
Dr. Soder’s book
Sprechstimme in Arnold Schoenberg’s Pierrot Lunaire: a Study of Vocal Performance Practice, published by The Edwin Mellen Press, received the Certificate of Merit by the Association of Recorded Sound Collections (ARSC) in 2009. Dr. Soder is the recipient of the Conservatory’s Kauffman Award, both for Excellence in Teaching (2011) and Excellence in Service (2018); the UMKC Trustees Faculty Scholar Award (2012), and most notably, a
Fulbright Scholar Award (2014-15), which provided Dr. Soder the opportunity to live, research, teach, and perform in Kolkata (West Bengal), India.
Recordings: Tagoriana (Albany Records), with Paul Busselberg, baritone, and Calogero di Liberto, piano; featuring Karim Al-Zand’s
Tagore Love Songs along with other Tagore settings by Alfano, Bridge, Carpenter, and Szymanowski;
Orange Torches Against the Rain with pianist Grant Loehnig (tracks 8-18, Studies in Nature:
New Music by Karim Al-Zand, Centaur Records)
Awards and Publications: Fulbright Scholar Award; Kauffman Excellence in Teaching Award; Kauffman Excellence Award in Faculty Service; Association for Recorded Sound Collections (ARSC) Certificate of Merit; UMKC Trustees Faculty Scholar Award
