San Antonio Symphony News and Archive

Back at '98, Foward to '99




Article snippets from the San Antonio Express News 12/27/98 and 1/3/99



By Russell Gold

The symphony barely survived to celebrate its 60th birthday this year. The season did not begin as scheduled, because the group was periously close to bankruptcy. After an emergency bailout and a renegotiated contract, the music returned.

But the fallout was not over. By the end of the year, the symphony's executive director, David Schillhammer, announced he was leaving his job. the board of directors was trimmed from 60 to 14 to focus attention during this crucial period.

By Mike Greenberg

The San Antonio Symphony hogged the newspages. Debt-ridden and cash-starved, the symphony spent the first few months of the year in a frantic rush to raise enough money to meet payroll. Business leaders and the Kronkosky Charitable Foundation offered a five-year stabilization plan worth $5 million, but the proposal hinged on steep budget cuts and wage concessions by the musicians.

While summer broiled, musicians and management were embroiled in angry talks and noisy silences to renegotiate the labor contract. Agreement was reached at last near the end of September, but much damage had been done - the loss of the first two weeks of the orchestra's 60th anniversary season and the flight of many talented musicians to other, more-stable orchestras.

By Dan R. Goddard

New top execs are expected as several San Antonio institutions - the San Antonio Symphony, the Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center, The San Antonio Museum of Art and UTSA - search for new leaders to take them into the new millennium. The year of new leadership should create new enthusiasm in these venerable institutions.



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