Electronic Press Kit - SOLI Chamber Ensemble

Electronic
Press Kit

Biographies

Stephanie Key

Stephanie Key, clarinet (1994 – ), is a founding member and the current Artistic Director of SOLI. She received her BM with Distinction in Performance from New England Conservatory. Ms. Key held the post of Interim Second Clarinetist with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra for four seasons. She was formerly the Associate Principal and Eb Clarinetist of the San Antonio Symphony. She is a Buffet Crampon Clarinets USA artist and performs with the Grand Teton Music Festival.

Ertan Torgul

Turkish-American violinist Ertan Torgul (1996 – ) balances a full calendar of national and international recitals, solo engagements, and chamber music concerts. He served as Lecturer of violin and chamber music at UC Santa Barbara from 2018 to 2023. He is a founding member of critically acclaimed Quartet ES and currently serves as SOLI’s Interim Managing Director.

David Mollenauer

Cellist David Mollenauer (1994 – ) received his Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from The Juilliard School with Harvey Shapiro, and studied 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, is on faculty at Trinity University, and performs with the Grand Teton Music Festival.

Carolyn True

Prize-winning pianist Carolyn True (1996 – ) is Professor of Music at Trinity University, and actively performs solo, chamber, and orchestral repertoire on the national and international stage. Dr. True holds a Performers’ Certificate and a DMA from the Eastman School of Music and is a member of the Steinway Music Teacher Hall of Fame.

Long Group Bio

SOLI Chamber Ensemble has been giving voice to 20th- and 21st-century contemporary chamber music since 1994, engaging audiences with unique performances, ensuring the future of new music through educational initiatives, and continually renewing its commitment to the music of living composers through performances and commissions. Recipient of a 2024 NEA Challenge America Grant, a 2020 Chamber Music America Classical Commissioning Grant, and the 2013 Chamber Music America and ASCAP Adventurous Programming Award, SOLI continues to champion new works, new contexts, and new audiences for the music of our time.

A champion of 21st-century music, SOLI has commissioned and premiered over 100 works from a diverse array of composers, including Nicolás Lell Benavides, Iván Enrique Rodriguez, Shulamit Ran, Kinan Azmeh, Aaron Jay Kernis, Clarice Assad, and Steve Mackey. Many of these works are featured on the ensemble’s seven commercially released recordings, including The Clearing and the Forest (Acis), Música por un tiempo (Albany), Electrified Air (SOLI Sound Works), and Portraits (New Dynamic Records), as well as in digital productions that broaden the ensemble’s global impact.

Based in San Antonio, SOLI presents a regular concert season and performs in diverse venues, from concert halls and museums to jazz clubs and art galleries, fostering an intimate connection between audiences and contemporary music. The ensemble collaborates with organizations such as Ballet San Antonio, Attic Rep Theater Company, Youth Orchestras of San Antonio, and Opera San Antonio. Notable large-scale projects include Ballads of the Borderlands, a cantata by Texas-composer Ethan Wickman with Children’s Chorus of San Antonio and the San Antonio Chamber Choir, commemorating the city’s 300th anniversary, and ((HERE)), a multimedia work by San Antonio-native Darian Donovan Thomas, with texts by Poet Laureate Andrea “Vocab” Sanderson.

In May 2024, SOLI launched the ambitious 30x30x30 Project, celebrating its 30th anniversary by selecting 30 newly written works from early-career composers of diverse backgrounds. Through nationwide collaborations with professional ensembles and universities, SOLI performed and recorded these works for commercial release, expanding the reach of contemporary chamber music.

SOLI’s excellence has been recognized with grants and awards from the Aaron Copland Fund for Music, National Endowment for the Arts, Amphion Foundation, Ditson Foundation, Dalkowitz Charitable Trust, New Music USA, Eastman Institute for Music Leadership, Meet the Composer, Russell Hill Rogers Fund for the Arts, Argosy Foundation, Tobin Endowment, Texas Commission on the Arts, and the City of San Antonio’s Department of Arts and Culture, among others.

Beyond performance, SOLI nurtures future generations of musicians and audiences through comprehensive educational programs. As Ensemble-in-Residence at Trinity University (San Antonio, TX) since 2008, SOLI provides performances, open rehearsals, chamber music coaching, and mentorship for student composers. The ensemble also conducts masterclasses, interactive workshops, and lectures at universities across the U.S. and internationally, fostering the next wave of contemporary music creatives.

Short Group Bio

SOLI Chamber Ensemble has been giving voice to 20th- and 21st-century contemporary chamber music since 1994, commissioning and premiering over 100 new works to date for its unique instrumentation from established and emerging composers. SOLI’s award-winning vision brings new music to life through innovative performances, tours, commercial recordings, digital productions, a rich education program for the next generations of creators and patrons, and academic residency programs across the United States and Europe.