The Romano & Ophir Duo pairs lever harpist Amelia Romano with woodwind specialist Asaf Ophir, blending classical works from the Baroque era to the modern day with harp, clarinet, and flute. Amelia's original compositions, drawn from Latin American rhythms and folk traditions, weave through their reimagined repertoire alongside Asaf's genre-spanning background in classical, jazz, theatrical, and world music. Together they offer a fresh, boundary-crossing take on chamber music, rooted in classical tradition but alive with global color.
Amelia Romano is a San Francisco Bay Area harpist, renowned for reimagining classical repertoire on the lever harp and for her ability to play across genres and push boundaries. A San Francisco native, she graduated from San Francisco School of the Arts High School, releasing her debut album, Seeking Peace, in her senior year. She went on to complete a Master's in Classical Lever Harp Performance from San Francisco State University under the direction of Karen Gottlieb, former SF Symphony harpist.
Skillfully shifting levers mid-piece, Romano brings complex classical and chromatic works to the lever harp, and her career has taken her from a year in South Africa to tours across Europe, the southern United States, and the Pacific Northwest. She leads Lever Harp for the Modern Harpist, a community for cross-genre arrangements, and performs and teaches throughout the Bay Area and around the world. Asaf Ophir began his professional career in musical theaters in Israel, while studying at the Rimon School of Jazz and Contemporary Music, and later at the Jerusalem Academy. Arriving in the United States in 2014, he began to perform in musicals around the Bay Area such as the award-winning Love Sick in 2017, and The People in the Picture in 2018. Finding a home away from home, Ophir can most often be seen in world music projects on Jewish, Arabic, and Balkan stages.
Ophir has performed on such distinguished stages as Habima, HaCameri, and Jerusalem Theaters in Israel, as well as the Paramount Theater, the Palace of Fine Arts, Yerba Buena Arts Center, Freight and Salvage, and others in the San Francisco Bay Area. Throughout his career, he has shared the stage with artists such as Miri Mesika, Avi Kushnir, Ustad Mahwash, and Barbra Streisand.
The San Francisco Chronicle writes: "Asaf Ophir gives the clarinet the timbre of a trumpet, then a violin, then a raspy scream… the instrument’s wail almost becomes too plaintive and beautiful to bear.”
Live audience / Livestream
To request a seat, use our web form or email
If seats are available, we will email you a written invitation with the concert address
Seating capacity is limited, so advance notice is highly recommended
For Livestream info, refer to the 'Events' page of our website listed above
Suggested donation: $20 per person
We strongly encourage donations to be made online at the time of reservation
We accept any and all donations, whatever the amount:
online: credit cards, Apple Pay, PayPal, or Venmo
in-person: cash, check
mail: check
No one will be turned away for lack of funds
