Board chair resigns as San Antonio Symphony faces final concerts
Soprano Ana Maria Martinez will perform in what could be the San Antonio Symphony’s final concerts this weekend.
The chair of the San Antonio Symphony stepped down Thursday afternoon, as the financially struggling ensemble appeared on the verge of falling silent after its final concerts this weekend.
The symphony’s board decided Wednesday night to suspend operations Sunday and cancel the remainder of the season, in a statement from chair Alice Viroslav. In a followup email to Texas Classical Review on Thursday, she said she had just stepped down as chair.
The board’s decision came after plans to hand over the orchestra to a new nonprofit fell through. The organization, Symphonic Music for San Antonio, cancelled a previous agreement on December 21, one in which they would take over the orchestra and provide financial relief.
The labor agreement with the orchestra’s musicians expired on December 31.
“This is not the end of the symphony,” Viroslav said, in her official statement on Wednesday. “As we observe San Antonio’s Tricentennial, it is the perfect time to recognize and celebrate the role that the fine arts have played in shaping our city, and to begin a true collaborative effort to firmly establish the symphony as the cornerstone of the arts in our community.”
Viroslav’s statement provided no time frame or any details on efforts to re-establish the orchestra.
Music director Sebastian Lang-Lessing will lead the ensemble in a Spanish-themed program Friday and Saturday celebrating San Antonio’s tricentennial, featuring works by Isaac Albeniz, Maurice Ravel and others. Soprano Ana Maria Martinez will perform zarzuela arias and Manuel de Falla’s Seven Spanish Popular Songs. The concerts begin at 8 p.m. in San Antonio’s Tobin Center for the Performing Arts. www.sasymphony.org; 210-223-8624.
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