This front page story made me cringe.
Gov. Greg Abbott blames parents and Democrats for “choosing a better option than what their assigned school provides.”
The real blame falls on the governor’s push to deplete funding for public schools and redirect it to private schools.
It’s Abbott’s recipe for ensuring public schools lack the capability to improve and deliver. It’s one more reason to vote Republican leadership out of office.
I’m pleased to see the start of Harmonium’s first season under the direction of Jeffrey Kahane. He has shown us that the many talents of multiple organizations can be effectively utilized for a splendid performance.
The rise of the the Orchestra San Antonio at the Tobin Center is also a refreshing scene. From its beginnings as a support orchestra, it has expanded, hopefully, to be a another major player in San Antonio’s classical music genre.
Then there is the San Antonio Philharmonic. What started out as a rise from the ashes of the San Antonio Symphony and showed great promise in its first three years has now become almost nonexistent.
Executive Director Roberto Treviño has still to produce, as promised, a 2026-27 season and seems to be more concerned with lawsuits against Kahane and the Harmonium.
As a former donor to the philharmonic, it is unimaginable how quickly the orchestra has gone downhill.
My sincere wish is that Harmonium and Orchestra San Antonio will succeed. If so, there is no question that San Antonio will be the benefactor.
Holding names on a coveted donor list doesn’t guarantee donations.
The San Antonio Philharmonic lost our donation by refusing to sell season tickets for the multiple rows of dedicated disabled seats identified on the Scottish Rite Auditorium floor plan.
Executive Director Roberto Treviño, not the musicians of the philharmonic, made the decision that ended our support.
Lawsuits claiming that stolen donor lists are responsible for lost donations have no merit. These lawsuits merely take money from our treasured musicians caught in the crossfire on all sides.
Treviño needs to stop harming the very people he pledged to support.
Margo Denke and Jim Griffin