“Two weeks past its near-death experience, the San Antonio Symphony rallied fervent support and 11th-hour funding to preserve most of its current season,” writes Nicholas Frank in Thursday’s (1/18) Rivard Report (San Antonio, TX). “Now, a concerted effort to bring together resources from public and private funders … must close the gap between continuing struggles and a sustainable organization…. ‘Every day, the picture is brighter and brighter,’ said Kathleen Weir Vale, who chairs the Symphony Society of San Antonio, the orchestra’s managing board. ‘We are engaged in raising operating funds, responding to the outpouring of support from all camps, reassembling our organization and our board of directors,’ she said, to include representatives from Bexar County and each of the city’s 10 Council districts…. Jesse Rosen, president and chief executive officer of the League of American Orchestras, confirmed that long-term financial planning is crucial for sustainability. Moving away from year-to-year budgets and towards five- to 10-year fiscal planning will ‘cause you to come to grips with some tough questions about how you’re operating,’ Rosen said …. Due to the recent outpouring of support, ‘right now the Symphony is enjoying its brightest time since I’ve been around,’ [Symphony Society board member Jim] Lowe said.”
Posted January 22, 2018
Pictured: San Antonio Symphony Music Director Sebastian Lang-Lessing leads a rehearsal at the Tobin Center, September 2017. Photo by Bonnie Arbittier / Rivard Report
