San Antonio Symphony Tickets

San Antonio Symphony
Based in San Antonio, Texas, the San Antonio Symphony is a full time highly qualified symphony orchestra. The season runs from late September through early June the next year. Christopher Seaman is presently the Orchestras Artistic Advisor.

The Majestic Theatre, San Antonio is the present abode of the orchestra. The Symphony plays a substantial and assorted collection of music in their concerts.

14 various classical subscription programs (performed twice), five Pops programs (also performed twice), four distinct programs in a Young peoples Concerts series (each played six times), four programs in an Interactive Family Classics series, and others including Special Attractions and Community Concerts are all included in the 2007-2008 season. Many famous guest artists also perform in these concerts.

Music Director Larry Rachleff, resident Conductor Ken-David Masur, Mastersingers Conductor John Silantien, and 72 full time musicians all put together form the 2007-2008 artistic staff of the San Antonio Symphony. The Music Director Emeritus of the Symphony is Christopher Wilkins.

Collectively, the orchestra musicians are all members of the International Conference of Symphony and Opera Musicians (ICSOM) and ultimately all members are individually members of the American Federation of Musicians. (AFM). Also performing regularly with the Symphony is the San Antonio Mastersingers, whose members take part voluntarily, but are thought to be of highly qualified status.

In 1989, the main performance venue of the San Antonio Symphony became the Majestic Theatre in downtown San Antonio. The former movie house and vaudeville house was completed in 1929.

The Symphony Society of San Antonio, whose chairman is Debbie Montoford and President and CEO David Green, manages all operations of the San Antonio Symphony. In September 2008, Jack Fisherman is scheduled to take over as CEO. This society is also a member of the American Symphony Orchestra League (ASOL).

Tracing back to 1887, the music played by the Orchestra began with a series of four concerts by a 49-piece orchestra directed by German immigrant Carl Beck at the state S?ngerfest. The first complete symphony performance in the state of Texas was of the Symphony No.4 by Felix Mendelssohn.

In 1896, when the S?ngerfest went back to San Antonio, Beck once again conducted a symphony orchestra. He was appointed as the director of the Beethoven M?nnerchor in San Antonio. He was later succeeded in 1904 by Carl Hahn. On May 18, 1905 Hahn affiliated with Mrs. Eli Hertzberg, a leading local musician and arts enthusiast, to form the San Antonio Symphony Orchestra.

The Orchestra performed from occasionally over the next few years but it was revived in 1914 labeled as the San Antonio Philharmonic), with a new conductor, Arthur Claassen. The Symphony was once again called the San Antonio Symphony Orchestra by 1916. Julien Paul Blitz took over as director by 1918. They continued with the concerts into the 1920s; however this institute eventually to have foundered.

The present San Antonio Symphony was brought into existence in 1939 by Max Reiter, a German-Italian immigrant, who then became its first Music Director. This symphony was an autonomous body from the above mentioned forerunners. The ambitious nature of the orchestra was shown by the fact that the celebrated violinist Jascha Heifetz was a guest artist in the initial season.

The orchestra had hired 75 professional musicians by 1943, and in the session of 1944-1945 the orchestras funds exceeded $100,000, which made it one of the 19 major orchestras in the United States at that time, and the sole one in Texas.

The San Antonio orchestra made it through the Second World War, unlike many other orchestras; mainly due to the fact that the strong militias present in the city helped boost the local economic situation. Before he died in1950, Reiter started an Opera Festival, also created an Opera Chorus, and in doing so brought the entire nations attention to the orchestra with world premiers and a number of significant composures. Furthermore, he included guest performances by world renowned artists, and on the whole, a superior quality in music.

Victor Alessandro, a native Texan succeeded Reiter. The inclusion of Young Peoples Concerts led to the growth in the orchestras range. The orchestra took up dwelling in the Theatre for the Performing Arts (later named after a San Antonio mayor, Lila Cockrell) in 1969. The orchestra made its first major label recordings for Mercury Records in 1970. The year 1976 saw the death of Alessandro.

The orchestra ran into financial troubles which cancelled most of the 1987-1988 season, during which time, the musicians created and showcased a series of concerts with their own label, orchestra San Antonio. The 2003-2004 season was also cancelled, this time due to bankruptcy.

In acknowledgement and approval for the Symphonys original and culturally diverse programs, it was given a number of awards in the 1990s. These included the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), American Symphony Orchestra League (ASOL), the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP), and the Knight Foundation.

The symphony now performs a shorter season with fewer musicians as compared to previous years due to the severe financial crisis it faced earlier. However, it still continues to be considered as a great artistic organization.

In early 2006-2007 CEO David Green and the executive board decided against renewing music director Larry Rachleffs contract further than 2007-2008. Many San Antonio Symphony fans and a majority of the musicians opposed this decision.

Presently, a search committee is looking for potential candidates for successor to Rachleff. Christopher seaman was appointed artistic advisor in January 2008. It was termed a position . . . similar to that of an interim music director for the 2008-2009 season.