Arts Alive San Antonio

By JASMINA WELLINGHOFF, Editor

While many performing arts organizations closed their doors in 2020, a few found new ways to stay active and survive – and even prosper – despite the pandemic. One of those was the SOLI Chamber Ensemble, which opted to perform concerts live, outdoors, at the San Antonio Botanical Garden. This is something that the quartet intends to continue doing during the 2021-22 season, which starts Sept. 27 and concludes on April 11, 2022.

The SOLI is known for exclusively performing – and commissioning – music of contemporary composers, most of them still living and creating.

So, what guides them in the process of planning a season? We asked the group’s artistic director, clarinetist, Stephanie Key.

“I always look for a wide range of repertoire and composers, mainly focusing on composers and what they have to say,” she said. “There’s so much to choose from because they are all living different lives that influence what they have to say. And that’s true of other artists, poets, playwrights, visual artists. Most are U.S. composers from all parts of the country, but it’s important for us to have also Texas composers, regional ones, San Antonio composers, to hear the voices from our own area.”

That diversity is already fully in evidence in the program for the season opener called Tableau in Frida Kahlo’s Oasis. The “oasis” is a special exhibit at SABOT that recreates the Home of Mexican artist Frida Kahlo, complete with the plants and flowers she surrounded herself with in her iconic Casa Azul in Mexico City. The concert programming was inspired by the exhibit, noted the press release.

To begin with, it features a concert suite from the opera Frida, composed in 1991 by San Antonio native and current Dallas resident, Robert Xavier Rodriguez. It will be performed by guest artist, mezzo-soprano Jacquelyn Matava, and SOLI member, pianist Carolyn True. Matava is an accomplished vocalist who currently serves as assistant professor of music at Trinity University.

Also on the program is Ofrenda by San Antonio jazz virtuoso, composer Aaron Prado, as well as Zarabandeo, a dance-style piece by Mexican composer, Arturo Marquez, who uses the musical forms and rhythms from his native country. The concert will close with another piece by Rodriguez. The first and last program choices will be performed by the entire quartet, which, in addition to Key and True, also includes violinist Ertan Torgul and cellist David Mollenauer.

A wider circle of international composers will be represented in Fractals, the second concert of the season, scheduled for Oct. 18.Among them are Fazil Say, Xi Wang and Kinan Azmeh. Key was especially excited about the latter, a Syrian-born clarinetist and composer who has performed all over the globe, won critical praise and received commissions from multiple artists and musical organizations.

“He has an incredible perspective on life! It’s like reading an author’s book. Someone from another country can give you a perspective that you would never know otherwise,” said Key. “His music is really special.” Key will perform his Four Essays on Solitude and other Ambiguous Emotions with True, Mollenauer and Torgul, in what will be the world premiere of the work. Also included in this program is a piece SOLI commissioned this year: Suite for the Between Time by Prado.

Due to COVID-induced precautions, the concert space can accommodate only about 150 concertgoers, said Key. The audience can sit in two areas, the loan and the patio, and concertgoers do not have to buy admission to the Garden.

Another event that will return this fall is Open Mic V, a community showcase that allows “closet crooners” and “weekend-warrior performers” to perform their favorite songs and instrumental pieces for the whole world to see and hear. Well, maybe not the whole world, but at least the world of TPR listeners. The popular event produced in partnership with Texas Public Radio is scheduled for Nov. 14 at 7 p.m. It will be staged in TPR’s Alvarez Theater and recorded for rebroadcast on KPAC’s Performance Saturday, hosted by Nathan Cone. Aspiring performers should register by Oct.4.

In addition, a special fundraising concert and party will be held on Nov. 9, Reflections on 100 Years of Tango, featuring – what else? – a lot of Piazzolla’s tangos. You’ll be able to purchase a ticket for the concert only for $25, if you wish. If the milonga is included the price jumps to $150. For tickets go to www.solichamberensemble.com/reflection/

Two more regular concerts are scheduled for the winter (Jan. 31) and spring (April 11) of 2022.

The SOLI Ensemble was founded in 1994 and has been a unique presence on the local chamber music scene ever since by presenting and commissioning new music from many living composers. The group won the 2013 Chamber Music America & ASCAP Adventurous Programming Award and has premiered more than 100 new works. 
————————————————————————————————————————–
Tickets: $25 Patio Seating; $15 Lawn Seating; to purchase go to www.solichamberensemble.com. The San Antonio Botanical Garden is located at 555 Funston PL, 78209