Arts and Entertainment

Chamber Ensembles with a contemporary compositional twist

SOLI Chamber Ensemble collaborates with students and the Composers Alliance of San Antonio

Chloe Kubalak, Arts Reporter • February 18, 2026 • 161 Views

First-year Clara Rabagos’s piano and Mollenauer’s cello weave together during the I Solod with Soli Chamber concert.

For the first time, the SOLI Chamber Ensemble performed alongside Trinity students. On Feb. 13, SOLI musicians and Trinity students presented “I SOLO’d with SOLI” in the Ruth Taylor Recital Hall.

According to Carolyn True, SOLI member and professor of music, the recital was a celebration of music education: 10 Trinity students performed piano compositions by the Composers Alliance of San Antonio. The students played alongside the founders of SOLI, Stephanie Key on the clarinet and David Mollenauer on the cello.

SOLI, Trinity’s resident chamber ensemble, works with pre-college students and the Composers Alliance of San Antonio. This year, though, True decided to showcase her students’ skills.

“We would be working, playing and collaborating with the students all the time,” True said. “I wanted my students to be able to step into that water to get to play with my wonderful colleagues.”

Students taking True’s piano lessons had just two rehearsals and a workshop with Mollenauer and Key to prepare for the recital, True said. Through the event, she hoped to give them the opportunity to play on the university’s Steinway pianos, as many of the students performing don’t plan to persue music professionally.

“When you’re a Trinity student, you’re doing a million things,” True said. “There are lots of opportunities that you can’t embrace fully, and to play a standard piece of chamber music — that’s great.”

One student in the course, John Key, senior biochemistry major, was unable to attend the recital. However, the audience still heard him perform. The music department’s Steinway Spirio piano, gifted to them by the Dicke family in 2019, recorded and played his music during the event.

With the success of “I SOLO’d with SOLI,” True hopes to continue to engage her students in recital performances. The SOLI Chamber Ensemble continues its 32nd season with a SOLI Monday Salon workshop on March 2, and more educational events will follow, featuring pre-college students, Trinity students and adult piano players alike.

*This article was updated Feb. 26, 2026.

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