“Thomas A. Stephenson, the former publisher of the San Antonio Express-News and later the Houston Chronicle, was named the first executive director of the recently formed Symphonic Music for San Antonio (SMSA), a nonprofit organization with the mission of securing the San Antonio Symphony‘s long-term viability,” reads an unsigned article in Monday’s (8/7) Rivard Report (San Antonio, TX). “The announcement was made in a Monday press release by SMSA Chairman J. Bruce Bugg Jr., who also serves as chairman and trustee for the Tobin Endowment. Bugg led the extensive private sector fundraising effort that complemented City and County funding to transform the former Municipal Auditorium into the Tobin Center for the Performing Arts…. Despite … artistic success and long tradition of symphonic music in the city … broad corporate support for the orchestra has ebbed and flowed…. SMSA was formed in July by Bugg; … H-E-B, which has been the symphony’s biggest corporate donor over the years; and the Kronkosky Foundation…. The new organization’s mission, according to the release, is to preserve and promote symphonic music in San Antonio, provide a fair contract for the orchestra’s professional musicians, and to oversee a collaborative environment at the Tobin among its resident organizations.”
Posted August 9, 2017
