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The San Antonio Philharmonic has suffered another serious blow. Music Director Jeffrey Kahane announced his departure from the orchestra on Monday morning.
In 2024 Kahane was hired as music director of the San Antonio Philharmonic, which had been created from the San Antonio Symphony’s musicians. The Symphony had been dissolved in June of 2022, and the Philharmonic was formed in its wake.
Texas Public Radio reached out to three Philharmonic members, including Kahane. None have responded.
In an interview with TPR last December Kahane spoke about the state of the Philharmonic.
“In all honesty, I am not being coy, about what happens next. I don't know,” Kahane said. “I know there's been a lot of drama. I can imagine that there's a lot of confusion among the music lovers here in San Antonio.”
He noted that his job as music director was specifically laid out, and the business aspects to the Philharmonic simply weren’t his job.
“I am the music director, and my role is to oversee the music. I am here to be an advocate for the orchestra,” he said. “I'm the public face of the orchestra. I make all the decisions about programming. I don't get involved in in the business aspects of it.”
Kahane had a relationship with San Antonio’s Philharmonic that goes all the way back to 1992, when it was the San Antonio Symphony, and he guest-conducted here.
His resume shows jobs in Los Angeles and elsewhere, including Denver.
“I was music director of the Colorado Symphony in Denver for five years. And the year after I left, the orchestra was facing bankruptcy,” Kahane said. “Things got very, very difficult because some of the big donors who had been supporting the orchestra didn't want to do it anymore.”
He noted that symphonies in many cities were having a hard time. And he heard there a line he’s heard a lot here in San Antonio.
“And the line was, this is not a city that will ever support a full-time symphony orchestra. That was 15 years ago. The Colorado Symphony now has an endowment of over $80 million and has a full-time orchestra. And they're doing great,” he said.
