The program reframes familiar canonical works to reveal lines of influence, exchange, and shared musical language across cultures. This approach gives audiences new ways to engage with tuneful, recognizable melodies, including the ways composers absorbed musical ideas shaped by Asian, Middle Eastern, and American traditions.
Musicians
Chi-Jo Lee Pianist & Featured Musician
Cheng Io Lo Violin
Max Opferkuch Clarinet
Host
Solomon Reynolds
Pieces
Mozart: Rondo alla Turca (Piano Sonata No. 11, Mov. 3) - piano solo (3')
Mozart: Violin Concerto No. 5 "Turkish," Mov. 3 - violin & piano (10')
Schumann: Arabesque, Op.18 (excerpt) - piano solo (1')
Tailleferre: Arabesque - clarinet & piano (3')
Debussy: Pagodes - piano solo (6')
Bartók: Contrasts, Mov. 1 - trio (8')
Ravel: Violin Sonata, 2nd Movement - violin & piano (5')
Villa-Lobos: Chôros No. 2 - violin & clarinet (3')
Khachaturian: Trio for clarinet, violin
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Solomon Reynolds
A native of Houston, TX, Indian-Samoan tenor Solomon Reynolds has equal passions for classical music and indie pop. He is a three-time Encouragement Award recipient of the Metropolitan Opera Eric and Dominique Laffont Competition in the Houston, Utah, and Los Angeles Districts. He recently performed as Perchik in the First Nat'l Tour of Fiddler on the Roof, directed by Tony Award-winning director Bartlett Sher. Catch him singing around town with LA Opera, LA Master Chorale, and St. James' in-the-City.
Solomon is also a classical music DJ at Classical California (91.5 FM). Tune in on Saturdays at 8:15am or 3:15pm to hear Saturday Morning Car Tunes, his five-minute, family-friendly edutainment radio feature introducing kids and their families to classical music. In addition to his work on stage and over the air, Solomon is an active singer-songwriter under his artist name, Solly.
Chi-Jo Lee
Pianist Chi-Jo Lee is an emerging voice in the classical music landscape. Her playing has been described as “virtuosic… with impressive grace” (San Diego Union-Tribune) and that her performance was “delivered with brio and apt abandon” (The Santa Barbara Independent). A versatile pianist, Chi-Jo navigates diverse genres from solo performances to chamber and contemporary music.
Over the next two seasons, Chi-Jo will perform solo piano recitals and chamber music performances at the La Jolla Music Society, Le Salon de Musiques chamber music series, and the National concert hall in Taiwan. Other upcoming projects include collaboration with Maestro James Conlon on Music Restored concert, with LA ballet, and several world premiere contemporary pieces. Chi-Jo also recorded music of Carl Czerny to be released on Naxos’ Romantic Piano Series. Additionally, she regularly engages in collaborative projects with the Los Angeles Opera and Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra.
Cheng Io Lo
Violinist Cheng Io Lo has performed at major venues including Carnegie Hall, David Geffen Hall, and Alice Tully Hall, where she made her solo debut in 2023 with the Columbia University Orchestra. A recipient of the Macau Cultural Affairs Bureau Prize and a National YoungArts Winner, she has appeared on NPR’s From the Top and performed at festivals such as Prussia Cove, Schiermonnikoog, Fontainebleau, Yellow Barn, and Kneisel Hall. Cheng Io is a graduate of Columbia University and The Juilliard School, where she has previously studied with Daniel Phillips, Laurie Smukler, and Nicholas Mann. She is currently pursuing her Artist Diploma at the Colburn School in 2025 with Margaret Batjer.
Max Opferkuch
Max Opferkuch was appointed Second Clarinet of the San Diego Symphony in May 2022. Noted for his “lush timbre and impeccable phrasing” (San Diego Story), Max has also appeared as guest principal and E-flat clarinet with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, guest bass clarinet with The Cleveland Orchestra, and as a substitute musician with the Pacific Symphony. An avid chamber musician, Max has performed as part of the La Jolla Music Society Summerfest, the Mainly Mozart Festival, Art of Élan, the Athenaeum Chamber Concert Series, the Colburn Chamber Music Society, and Music from Angel Fire. Max was awarded Grand Prize in the 2019 Pasadena Showcase House Instrumental Competition and won the 2019 USC Thornton Concerto Competition, for which he appeared as a soloist with the Thornton Symphony. In 2020 he was featured as a Young Artist in Residence on Minnesota Public Radio’s Performance Today, and he can be heard performing on Art of Élan’s recent two-volume retrospective album, “Visions And Dreams.” Max was a fellow at the 2019 and 2022 Tanglewood Music Center in Lenox, Massachusetts. A San Diego native, Max studied with Theresa Tunnicliff of the San Diego Symphony before going on to earn his Bachelor of Music in Clarinet Performance from the USC Thornton School of Music (‘20), where he was a student of Yehuda Gilad and Michele Zukovsky. He also spent a semester at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, Finland, studying with Harri Mäki and Olli Leppäniemi. At the time he joined the San Diego Symphony, Max was pursuing graduate studies with Yehuda Gilad at the Colburn Conservatory of Music in Los Angeles, and he graduated with his Master of Music degree in 2023.
This program is made possible in part by a grant from the City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs.