It’s the second-largest city in Texas, with a handsome performance hall with world-class acoustics, but San Antonio once again has lost a symphony orchestra. With the San Antonio Philharmonic in financial trouble and mired in a dispute with the Scottish Rite, in whose cathedral it had performed since last year, music director Jeffrey Kahane resigned Feb. 9. The remainder of the orchestra’s season has been canceled.
Formerly known as the San Antonio Symphony, the orchestra has had a long history of financial challenges, canceling at least part of 1987-88, 2003-04 and 2017-18 seasons. In 2021, when the board proposed a new contract with drastic cuts in numbers of musicians and salaries, musicians went on strike, subsequently organizing their own concerts. In summer 2022, the symphony filed for bankruptcy and the San Antonio Philharmonic was organized, mostly with former symphony musicians. Kahane was hired as music director in 2024.
The one time I heard the San Antonio Symphony, in 2015, in the then-new Tobin Center for the Performing Arts, I was quite impressed with the orchestra, which struck me as comparable to the Fort Worth Symphony. And the acoustics were superb. But the orchestra couldn’t afford to continue playing there, and the philharmonic moved to cheaper accommodations at nearby First Baptist Church and ultimately the Scottish Rite Cathedral.
The premature end to another orchestral season, with uncertain prospects for the future, is yet another sad loss for culture in Central Texas.
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