San Antonio Symphony News and Archive

Back from the dead




By Mike Greenberg

from the San Antonio Express News 10/2/98



The grave was dug and the flowers ordered, but the San Antonio Symphony has come back to life.

The orchestra opens its 60th-anniversary season three weeks late with an all-Beethoven program tonight and Saturday in the Majestic Theater.

The concerts had been canceled as the symphony came within hours of bankruptcy.

But late Tuesday, musicians and management signed an amended collective bargaining agreement that allows the symphony to balance its budget, collect pledges of $1 million a year in additional support and return to the stage.

The weekend's program includes Beethoven's Symphony No. 8, the "Creatures of Prometheus" Overture and the Piano Concerto No. 3 with soloist Max Levinson.

Music director Christopher Wilkins, starting his eighth season with the orchestra, conducts.

A musicians' relief concert previously announced for Saturday night has been canceled.

People holding tickets for the first two scheduled concerts of the season - the opening classical concert Sept. 11 and 12 and a pops program with Sandy Duncan Sept. 18-20 - should hold onto their tickets.

Symphony chairman Charlie Lutz said efforts will be made to reschedule both concerts during the season.

This weekend's concerts, the first of a month-long Beethoven Festival, start at 8 tonight and Saturday in the Majestic Theater, downtown on Houston Street between St. Mary's and Navarro.

Tickets are $13-$46. Starting at 6 each night, unsold seats for that evening's concert will be offered at $9 to high school and college students, seniors and military personnel.



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