Courtesy Photo / San Antonio Philharmonic
The San Antonio Philharmonic perform at the First Baptist Church.
The postponement of the concerts — which are to feature piano soloist Jon Kimura Parker performing George Gershwin’s Piano Concerto in F — comes after two key Philharmonic donors sued the orchestra earlier this month to force repayment of what court documents called $180,000 in loans.
The legal dispute arose following the exodus of at least a dozen Philharmonic employees, including Chief Financial Officer Sylvia Romo, in recent weeks, according to the San Antonio Report.
Treviño, contacted by phone Wednesday, was unable to give a new date for the Philharmonic's Classics III series.
He said the postponement will allow the orchestra to focus on selling tickets to its performance of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, set for Nov. 16-17 at the Majestic Theatre. Those concerts will be the Philharmonic's largest of the year, he added.
"We've been impacted financially by some of these things that have happened recently," said Treviño, a former District 1 councilman tapped to lead the Philharmonic last summer. "Rather than stretch out staff so thin by presenting the Classics III concert, then turning around and presenting our biggest concert of the year just a few weeks later, we're choosing to focus right now on Beethoven 9."
Musicians in the Philharmonic learned of the change in an Oct. 1 letter signed by Treviño and Music Director Jeffrey Kahane, according to the San Antonio Report, which first reported the rescheduling.
Pushing back Classics III “will provide us with the essential time needed to navigate these issues effectively, raise the necessary capital, and work toward preserving the integrity of our entire season,” according to a portion of the letter quoted by the San Antonio Report. The correspondence also notes “it may be difficult to guarantee the full season as initially planned.”
Despite that open-ended language, Treviño told the Current the Philharmonic plans to present its remaining scheduled concerts, including its Dec. 4 performance with Christopher Cross at the Sunken Garden Theater, its Dec. 17 Folklórico Nutcracker at the Majestic and its Jan. 3 Selena Vive: The Music of Selena tribute show.
When asked how the lawsuit and personnel changes played into the decision to postpone the Classics III series, Treviño said he was unable to discuss legal and human-resources issues.
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