San Antonio Symphony News and Archive

S.A. Symphony's director resigns




By Ramiro Burr

from the San Antonio Express News 12/8/98



The San Antonio Symphony's executive director resigned Monday, three months after musicians demanded a change in management in exchange for wage concessions.

David Schillhammer's resignation was announced in a late afternoon news conference in which symphony board Chairman Charles Lutz also outlined unprecedented changes - one of which will shrink the symphony's 60-member board by three-quarters.

The drastic moves capped months of budgetary crises and negotiations between management and musicians as they struggled to keep the 60-year organization alive in the face of mounting debts.

Musicians' representative Jean Robinson said neither Schillhammer's resignation nor the board's reorganization was part of the collective bargaining agreement signed Sept. 30 by the musicians.

"The solution to the symphony's problems is based on many things, " she said.

Schilhammer's resignation is effective Dec. 31.

Neither the resignation nor the board restructuring will affect the symphony's season.

"We're looking forward with great optimism to the new direction our organization is taking," Robinson said. "We are very hopeful for the future."

Lutz said the changes, announced after the Monday's annual meeting of the Symphony Society of San Antnio, were needed to help the symphony survive.

"This is a new approach and a considerably leaner board," Lutz said. "This is a more business-oriented board, formed primarily for the purpose of acting on the five-year plan for financial stabilization which came together in late September."

The symphony released a list of 14 members of the restructured board. It's heavy with corporate leaders, including representatives of Valero, Ultramar Diamond Shamrock and Frost National Bank.

Veronica Salazar, vice president of community relations for the San Antonio Express-News, also will serve on the board.

Three musicians, including Robinson, also will sit on the board, as will the symphony's executive director.

The board's goal will be balancing the budget each year, Lutz said.

The reorganization plan includes the formation of a community advisory board, which Lutz said may have as many as 40 members.

Lutz rejected speculation that Schillhammer, who couldn't be reached for comment, was forced out to comply with the musicians' demands for changes in the symphony's management during contract negotiations.

"David had begun talking to me as far back as 90 days ago that it was his belief that it was in the best interest of the organization for him to move on, and the organization to have a change of leadership," Lutz said.

"Very much to his credit, he agreed to stay on for the past 90 days to make sure the season got under way, the new board got put together and that the financial stabilization plan got under way."

A nationwide search for a new executive director already has begun, Lutz said.

In late September, the symphony avoided bankruptcy when the musicians ratified a new three-year collective bargaining agreement. The pact called for musicians' salaries to be frozen at last year's base level for two years before a pay raise, letting the symphony budget stay balanced.

These were preconditions to a last-minute, $5 million rescue package forged by local businesses and the Kronkosky Foundation, a local charitable foundation. Corporate leaders helped recruit local businesses to increase their gifts to the symphony by $500,000 a year for five years, or a total of $2.5 million.

The Kronkosky Foundation also pledged $2.5 million over five years to revive the symphony's depleted endowment fund. It's a challenge grant that must be matched by other gifts.

The reorganization "is an appropriate step, and a lot more needs to be done to get the symphony back on track," Kronkosky Foundation director Palmer Moe said. "It will be advantageous to have a smaller board to facilitate the decision-making process and also to enable it to focus on a strategic direction that is needed to ensure the long-term viability of the symphony."



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