Nearly a year after the dissolution of the San Antonio Symphony, the San Antonio Philharmonic announced their second season this week.
With just a few shows left, the musician-led orchestra has pretty much completed their first season, and they’ve done it their way, according to SA Philharmonic president and bassoonist Brian Petkovich.
“All the things that we tried to put in place really have worked out,” Petkovich said in a phone call this week.
That includes an organizational structure led by and favoring those making the music. And outreach through community concerts, and appearances in schools, from the East Side to Edgewood, and all corners of the city.
“That's really worked, with the school kids,” Petkovich said, adding “I think that really helped [community connections], doing the stuff on the Old Spanish Trail and for Cinco de Mayo.”
For future needs, Petkovich said, “Eventually we're going to need a permanent home. We'll need an endowment. All those fundamental kinds of needs that orchestras have around the country. We're going to have to work on those as well.”
While they continue to work on those fundamental needs, their next season of concerts has just been announced, featuring over a half-dozen orchestral works by women, people of color and living composers. It’s fresher orchestral programming for a diverse city. Petkovich says their programming philosophy is very simple.
“We want at least one piece on each program that we've never played or don't know… have one piece that everybody knows that people will come and see… and then you basically have the conductor, the guest artists really showcase what they want to do.”
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Read below for a transcript of my interview with Brian Petkovich. This transcript has been edited for length and clarity.
Nathan Cone: I got the email yesterday with the season brochure in it, and it's obviously great to see a second season. So congratulations, right off the bat.
Brian Petkovich: Yeah, thanks a lot! It was a lot of work and a lot of planning to put it together and get it out. And it was just it was a relief to actually have it sent.
So, how's everybody in the organization feeling right now?
I think they're excited about next season. I mean, the people that we have coming in, the programming is really fantastic. And, you know, we've almost completed our first season. It really is kind of a fantastic thing to be here, you know, 12 months later and really see all this happen. All of the things that we tried to put in place really have worked out. And it's just been great to see the audience, and the students, and be back on stage.
Next year's programing includes lots of familiar sounds for classical fans, but also at least a half dozen pieces are by women or nonwhite composers, and some living composers, which is awesome. Tell me more about the programing for next season, specifically that aspect. What does it mean for classical music in 2023 and beyond?
Well really, a lot of the exciting things for me are the stuff I don't know anything about! And programing works that we've never played is really part of what is going to keep me interested personally. But I think [that will] also kind of engage the audience in a different way. I have this question a lot about how we how the programing has been done. And really, it's been very simple. We want to have one piece on each program that we've never played, or don't know, have one piece that everybody knows that people will come and see, and then you basically have the conductor, the guest artists really showcase what they want to do.
Keeping it interesting for you as a player with unfamiliar and new material... that probably gets the musicians excited about performing as well and helps energize the run up to these concerts when there's something new for everybody.
Yeah, I mean, curiosity is a big part of why it's important to show up to live music. Part of that creative spirit is really being in the room when something new is happening.
Who does the outreach for the soloists?
Stephanie Westney has done a lot of that work. She's a violinist in the orchestra and sits on our board and she's really taken over that responsibility, and has done amazing job.
Kudos to her because yeah, you got Randall Goosby coming back again. He's such a great young talent and I was happy to see a local name in here as well—Crystal Jarrell Johnson singing on one of the programs as well because I love her voice so much.
Right! And that's the Corigliano…
That is “Fern Hill,” yeah.
Yeah, yeah! So, you know, going back to ancient history, John Corigliano's father was a concertmaster of the San Antonio Symphony back in the sixties. So there's a connection there. And we wanted to make sure to program something of his to kind of showcase that. But he came out in support of us last summer, really before we even started our own concerts in the fall of last year.
Yeah. I mean, [he's been a] really great friend to the city for a long time. Your press release about the new season talks about Young People’s Concerts as multimedia events. And I'm curious even beyond doing that for the kids… have you ever thought about doing something multimedia for the evening concerts as well? For the adults, the old folks? [laughs]
Well, I've actually been so impressed with our young people's concerts over the years. Jeremy Brimhall, who puts these together, has just done a fantastic job. And I guess every once in a while I think we should just play those as an evening concert so that people get to see what the kids see. And a lot of times it's really innovative, exciting. You know, it's an under and hour concert with... The multimedia is really [screen] projections… putting things in a historical context, a social context. And really merging all with the curriculum in the schools. That kind of thing really works out really well. So the only multi-media thing we did this year was that “Antarctic Symphony” back in November with Chris Wilkins. And people loved it. So, yeah, it seems like there should be a movie show or something like that... with the music in the background, that might be really fun, too.
What would you say is y'all's most pressing need right now?
Well, ongoing support. And then just talking about capital and having that awareness in the community… really getting out in the community to make that happen. And really that's the partnership I think that we're looking for that can really make this last for a long time. I mean, eventually we're going to need a permanent home. We'll need an endowment. All those fundamental kind of needs that orchestras have around the country. We're going to have to work on those as well.
Do you have any ideas about a permanent home [Ed. the San Antonio Philharmonic currently performs at First Baptist Church]?
I think that will all be worked out over the next couple of years. We obviously saw the Tobin Center as our home for a number of years with the Symphony. Maybe there is a possibility to see how that goes, but really the ball's in the Tobin Center's court. And we'll see how that plays out over the next couple of years.
What are some of the partnerships (you referenced earlier) you'd like to see, or that have been successful?
The partnerships that we've had in the schools do the right things. The Young People's Concerts have really been the foundation of [partnerships]. And really like the Plaza Guadalupe concert, Old Spanish Trail concerts, those concerts in the communities and reaching out to different areas where we're being brought in and invited in to share that music with that community, I think is an important part of the community building that you want to see… basically meeting people where they live. That's really worked with the school kids. I think that really helped, doing the stuff on the Old Spanish Trail and for Cinco de Mayo.
So one more thing about the upcoming season, and I just want to put you in the guise of a listener. If you were in the audience at one of the upcoming shows next season, what would be the one you would most want to sit in the audience for and listen to?
I think a very exciting concert next year is actually going to be the Beethoven Violin Concerto with the [Alfred] Schnittke and the Mozart Symphony No. 25 [on April 19 & 20, 2024], because that's being led by the soloist. That's going to be a very dynamic concert to watch and just see how people react. You're basically conducting from the instrument in that context. And so that would be an interesting show, that would be not like any of the others because it's the soloist leading the orchestra. So... if I had to be in the audience for one... it's probably because I'm used to seeing conductors conduct, but it would be interesting to see a violin lead and conduct that that program.
That reminds me of one more question! You've got all these great guest conductors coming through here, and you had a lot of guest conductors this past season as well. So, what’s your plan or timeline for a permanent music director in the future? Working with all these different conductors, is that kind of, you know, “audition” is too strong a word to use, but is that kind of the process that maybe some folks are thinking as you go through all this?
It's a really good question. Really, we've had an embarrassment of riches with both the conductors that have wanted to come in and work with us and the guest artists that have wanted to come and solo with us. So to say that these people are candidates is not accurate. I mean, they're just coming and sharing their music with us. We don't have a timeline or an idea of what a music director might look like. But obviously we're looking at everybody with curiosity, just like I'm sure the audience is, too.
Well in that way, this truly feels to me at least, like what it is. A musician run orchestra, in that you all are banding together and working together to bring these fantastic artists, both as musicians and soloists as well as conductors to the to the stage here. So it feels like you're living up to what you what you want to do.
Yes, it's exciting and it's dynamic and it's new and it's different, unusual. And it's something to see. And I hope people come out and enjoy the show.
