Biography
Our STORY
SOLI CHamber ensemble
SOLI Chamber Ensemble has been giving voice to 20th- and 21st-century contemporary chamber music since 1994, mesmerizing audiences for nearly three decades with their engaging performances, ensuring the future of new music through educational initiatives, and continually renewing their commitment to the music of living composers through performances and commissions. Winner of the 2013 Chamber Music America and ASCAP Adventurous Programming Award and a 2020 Chamber Music America Classical Commissioning Grant, SOLI continues to champion new works, new contexts, and new audiences for the music of our time.
SOLI’s engagement with the dynamism of 21st-century music includes a strong commitment to commissioning new works from established and emerging composers, encouraging an active artistic dialogue between creators, performers, and listeners. In its first 29 years, SOLI has single-handedly expanded the repertoire for its instrumentation, commissioning and premiering over 100 new works from some of today’s most exciting composers, including Shulamit Ran, Clarice Assad, D. J. Sparr, Kinan Azmeh, Darian Donovan Thomas, Reena Esmail, Armando Bayolo, Scott Ordway, Pierre Jalbert, Steven Mackey, Matthew Aucoin, Xi Wang, Alexandra Gardner, Carl Schimmel, Ned Rorem, Paul Moravec, Robert X. Rodriguez, Elliott McKinley, Peter Lieuwen, David Heuser, Tim Kramer, and many others. In addition to live performances, SOLI has presented several of these works on their commercially-released recordings The Clearing and the Forest, Música por un tiempo, Overland Dream, and Portraits, and in their digital productions.
In addition to the 2013 and 2020 Chamber Music America awards, SOLI has received awards and grants from the Aaron Copland Fund for Music, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Amphion Foundation, the Ditson Foundation, New Music USA’s Creative Connections, the Eastman Institute for Music Leadership, Meet the Composer, The Russell Hill Rogers Fund for the Arts, the San Antonio Area Foundation, the Argosy Foundation, The Tobin Endowment, the Texas Commission on the Arts, and the City of San Antonio’s Department of Arts & Culture, among others.
SOLI’s vision brings new music alive through a rich educational program for the next generations of creators and patrons. This platform cultivates new audiences for contemporary classical music and develops a support system for emerging composers and performers of all cultures and backgrounds. As Ensemble in Residence at Trinity University (San Antonio, TX) since 2008, SOLI performs on campus, conducts open rehearsals, advises, guides, and coaches student chamber groups, and works with student composers. Academic residencies have taken their artistry and experience to campuses throughout the U.S. and to Alba, Italy and in 2021, the group launched a digital online residency program.
Meet Our Musicians
Stephanie Key
An avid performer of contemporary music, STEPHANIE KEY is the founding and current Artistic Director of SOLI Chamber Ensemble. She received her BM with Distinction in Performance from New England Conservatory in Boston, and she has performed with many orchestras and ensembles across the country and internationally. She is Interim Second Clarinetist with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, former Associate Principal and Eb Clarinetist with the San Antonio Symphony, plays with the Grand Teton Music Festival, and serves on the music faculty at Trinity University. Ms. Key is a designated Artist with Buffet Crampon, makers of fine wind instruments.
Ertan Torgul
Turkish-American violinist ERTAN TORGUL balances a full calendar of national and international recital engagements, chamber music concerts, and solo appearances. He has been SOLI Chamber Ensemble’s violinist since 1996, served as Artistic Director from 2012 to 2019, and was the group’s Managing Director from 2011 to 2020. Mr. Torgul is a member of the SUONO Duo/Trio, Quartet ES, and Quinteto Quilombo.
David Mollenauer
Cellist DAVID MOLLENAUER received his Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from The Juilliard School with Harvey Shapiro and continued his studies with Lynn Harrell at USC. He has performed across the U.S., Central America, Europe, and Asia. An avid chamber musician, Mr. Mollenauer is a founding member of SOLI, former Assistant Principal Cello of the San Antonio Symphony, plays with the Grand Teton Music Festival, and teaches cello at Trinity University.
Carolyn True
An inaugural member of the Steinway Music Teacher Hall of Fame, prize-winning pianist CAROLYN TRUE is Professor of Music at Trinity University, and a core member of SOLI Chamber Ensemble since 1996. She walks the delicate balance between teaching and actively performing solo, chamber, and orchestral repertoire on the national and international stage. Dr. True holds the prestigious Performers’ Certificate and a DMA from the Eastman School of Music.
