Earlier this month, classical music fans were surprised by the announcement that Jeffrey Kahane would be returning to San Antonio to lead a new orchestra, Harmonium of Texas. Kahane had resigned from his post as music director of the San Antonio Philharmonic in February after that ensemble struggled to fulfill its concert season, cancelling most of the concerts it had announced.
Harmonium of Texas, set to debut on October 2 at Lila Cockrell Auditorium, would be the third professional orchestra in San Antonio, including the San Antonio Philharmonic and The Orchestra San Antonio, who are a resident company at the Tobin Center for the Performing Arts.
“The way I look at it is the rising tide lifts all boats,” Kahane said in an interview with TPR. “I would say we have a mission that is unique.”
Below, read our interview with Jeffrey Kahane, Artistic Director of Harmonium of Texas, and Jim Berg, Chaiman of the Board of Harmonium of Texas (and for disclosure, Berg was also one of the founding members of KPAC, and former TPR board member).
This interview took place on May 22, 2026. It has been edited for length and clarity. For the full-length interview, use the audio player at the top of this page.
Nathan Cone: When did the idea of Harmonium of Texas first enter your mind?
Jeffrey Kahane: So this is a really interesting question, actually, because given where we are today, it's, it's almost unbelievable, but the truth is that the first conversations that we had, a small group of people in San Antonio was in the first week of March, and so it's basically less than three months ago that this started. We didn't know what it was going to be called, we didn't know whether it was going to work. We didn't know how much money we would raise. What we knew was that there was a great passion for music, a great love of music in the community, and we felt that we could do something to, first of all, to bring opportunities for the wonderful community of musicians here in San Antonio, more opportunities, and also to bring great music to all the music lovers out there, of whom we know there are many.
Nathan Cone: And when you say we, is that you and Jim Berg here, or more... others, who were the first calls that you made?
Jeffrey Kahane: Well, I'm not sure if I am supposed to identify. First of all, the first calls were not from me to someone saying, "Hey, what about this idea?" The first calls were people who reached out to me and said, "You know, we understand that you're not going to be coming to San Antonio anymore. Are you ever coming back? What's going on?" Out of these conversations with a small group of people who were very generous and very passionate, this idea evolved. It was not about me calling people up and saying, "Hey, how about we start a new orchestra?" That's not how it happened.
Jim Berg: This city cannot be starved of fine music. We can be down, but we're not out, and the thought that Jeffrey was even thinking about organizing an orchestra to replace what was here, the San Antonio Symphony, which I was on the board of at the time, delighted me because I was very close with Sebastian [Lang-Lessing], and we had a, we had a marvelous orchestra, and I just don't want to see it go away. My mother was very involved for many years, first with the saving of Youth Orchestra of San Antonio when we moved here from New York, and she was very interested and very concerned that that music education not stop from adults, they've got to include young people, and so that was also a driving force of Jeffrey, big time. Don't you agree, Jeffrey?
Nathan Cone: Yeah, well, it's interesting that you said the word replace, because as far as we know, there are [now] going to be three [professional] organizations in the near future that are presenting large-scale orchestral music in San Antonio. Is that going to work, you think?
Jeffrey Kahane: Well, we'll find out. I constantly point out the fact, as you well know, Nathan, that not that many years ago, London
"Orchestras having to go through crises is nothing new."Jeffrey Kahane
had five major orchestras, all of which were full-time orchestras, all of which had extraordinary reputations internationally, and I think now there are only four, but the way I look at it is the rising tide lifts all boats, I mean, we're, we have, you know, I would say we have a mission that is unique. We have these wonderful partnerships with YOSA, with the Mastersingers, with the San Antonio Chamber Choir, Chamber Chorus, and the Children's Chorus of San Antonio, and those are all integral, they're very, very deeply woven into the fabric of what the identity of Harmonium of Texas is. The kids of YOSA, young people who play in YOSA ... you know, most youth orchestras around the country have the opportunity to play with a what shall we call it a veteran or a senior orchestra once a year, that's sort of the typical thing, and... often it's not on a subscription program, it's a special concert where the young people get to sit next to their professional colleagues. In my conversations with Troy Peters over these last few months I told him that what I wanted to do was have YOSA be woven into the whole season and have them play as many as four— it turns out this year they're going to be doing three programs with us--on the regular series. These are not one-off concerts, they're going to be participating in three, and that may grow, you know, if we're successful and we are able to continue. The idea is to provide them with a constant source of semi-professional experience, I guess you could say, and exposure to not only their orchestral colleagues but to work being on the stage with great artists from around the world, and being able to play the greatest repertoire, they already do that with Troy. But as Troy has said to me, they, these young people, they need this kind of experience, not once a year, they need it on a regular basis. So we aim to provide them with a consistent source of education, mentorship, and inspiration throughout the season.
Jim Berg: And to add on to what Jeffrey is saying is that, for instance, my daughter Jennifer is a product of YOSA, and from YOSA went to National Repertory Orchestra in Breckinridge for three months in the summer and played all the repertoire, and then went on to Conservatory at Indiana, and then to NEC, New England Conservatory, but all because it grew out of YOSA. It started there, and the side by side concerts, as they're known, is a tremendous opportunity not only for the professionals but also for the kids, but more importantly, Nathan, an answer to your question is that we have musicians in San Antonio, and they were educated to perform not just on someone's abstract calendar like Harmonium, but on another orchestra or another orchestra. They, I'm sure, they will all say, "We want the income." So, I mean, if there's three opportunities, wonderful.
Nathan Cone: Yeah, so I want to talk about the orchestra makeup here in a second, but you know, I want to go back to something you said when you mentioned London and the four orchestras. What I'm hearing you say is that there is a belief that San Antonio is on that level, right? That they can support that same number of organizations as well. There's like two dozen classical organizations here in town doing amazing stuff. And so you're signifying there is a belief that San Antonio can be on that same level as London, Berlin, you know, Houston, all these...
Jeffrey Kahane: Well, that is a very ambitious goal, and that's a process that we're talking, you know, a number of years, but there's no reason that that can't be the case. San Antonio is, what is it, the sixth or seventh? I keep hearing different stories.
Nathan Cone: I think we're about ready to hit that six mark!
Jeffrey Kahane: By the way, I tell my colleagues in the music world when I'm discussing bringing artists here, and they're like, well, when we send an artist to a smaller market, and I say, just one second, are you aware that San Antonio is the seventh or sixth largest city, and, and they're dumbfounded by that. I don't know why that is, but I do want to stress that we don't have to try to be London, we want to be San Antonio, and what I think many people don't know about San Antonio, the history of music in San Antonio, which I know you're very well aware of, is this is a city that has a great musical tradition that goes back, and not just in classical music, but I'm just talking about symphonic music that goes back 100 years, actually more, but the example that I always like to point to, and this may or may not mean something to anyone out there, but it will mean something to someone out there. Is that the first American performance of the four last songs of Richard Strauss, one of the greatest works of the 20th century, was given here in San Antonio by the San Antonio Symphony under Max Reiter, who was a very good friend of Richard Strauss. This is, this is a testament to the level of musicianship that was here, and you know, I have a colleague at USC, where I am on the faculty, Terry Cravens, very distinguished trombonist, and every time I see him, he says, you know, I played in the San Antonio Symphony, and it was a great band, so I really, I want very much for people in San Antonio to understand that whatever the ups and downs, you know, every city deals with, well, not every, but even the biggest orchestras sometimes deal with.
Jim Berg: Philadelphia went down the tubes...
Jeffrey Kahane: That's right, you know, orchestras having to go through crises is nothing new. They're actually relatively few that haven't.
Nathan Cone: Yeah, we're talking about large behemoth size organizations with lots of people, and that happens.
Jeffrey Kahane: And you know, I want to add one other thing, and that is that, you know, I have been a pianist for half a century, it's hard for me to say that, but I have to admit it, and I've been a conductor for, you know, I've had multiple orchestras over a period of 40 years, and one of the refrains that I have heard, both with respect to cities in which I have worked, but also it's a common refrain, is this city, City X, this will never support a full symphony orchestra, it'll never support, it'll never happen here. There isn't enough money, there isn't enough interest. And my reaction, my response to that has always been, it's not true. It wasn't true then, and it's not true now. It's not about a lack of passion or lack of interest on the part of the community, and in most cases, it's not about a lack of money either. It's about a lack of vision, organization, skill, intention, and the two examples ... you know, my one of my former orchestras, the Colorado Symphony grew out of the ashes of the Denver Symphony Orchestra, which went bankrupt and closed its doors sometime around 1980, I don't remember the exact date. And the musicians immediately formed a cooperative called the Colorado Symphony. They started with a budget of zero, and they, I became their music director, their first principal conductor, and then music director was Marin Alsop, who went on to become one of the legendary conductors, Baltimore, and now she's at Ravinia, and anyway, Marin is has an extraordinary career, but 15 years later, roughly, I was invited to be their music director. By that time, they had a budget of $10 million They'd gone from zero. After I left, they were once again in trouble. And it's a very familiar story. There was a small group of donors who became, you know, they were tired of being the only people to support it, and they... anyway, they were on the ropes, but they did not go out of business. That was in 2011. Fifteen years later, the Colorado Symphony has an endowment of just under $100 million. Same thing happened in San Diego, which was an orchestra I had worked with, both as a pianist and conductor. They did close their doors, and I know that, because I was the soloist on the last concert that didn't happen, and it was sad, because that was, you know, San Diego is a huge city with a lot of wealth, but for whatever reason it didn't work, and then a few years later a guy by the name of Irwin Jacobs, who was the CEO of Qualcomm, gave the San Diego Symphony $110 or $120 million, the largest gift in the history of American orchestras, and they've been very stable and very successful ever since.
Nathan Cone: Well you have a great season lined up with Emmanuel Ax, and Tessa Lark coming to play that Torke piece that I'm so excited about. I love Michael Torke, and you know, I think you, we, when we texted the other day, you, you know, mentioned, oh, here's where we are fundraising-wise. So, what's the total budget of the season, and like, how percentage wise, how far are you towards reaching that?
Jeffrey Kahane: Well, the percentage keeps growing every single day. When I texted you, we had, we had just hit $835,000 and I know there have been a number of gifts over the last few days, so I don't even know what the current amount is. The total budget for this season is around $3 million and I will share with you that at the beginning of March, when Jim and I and his handful of other people, when the idea came up of, you know, of a new orchestra, I was very skeptical that it was possible. But I said to myself, well, if I could raise half a million dollars by the end of May, I would take that as a sign that this was this was a viable idea, and that that we could actually go forward, and here we are. It's not yet the end of May, and I know we're over 850,000 as of today, and, and you know, the season isn't even going to start until October. So to go into the season with this kind of cushion is very good reason for us to assume that we will be operating in the black from the get-go, and that we will finish the season in the black.
Jim Berg: And Nathan, one of the really cool things is that we're not going to be just in one place, we're going to have multi venues.
Nathan Cone: Yeah, Lila Cockrell, and some of them are TBA, but where are you looking at?
Jeffrey Kahane: We're going to do a small series at Stable Hall in the Pearl, which will include the complete Brandenburg concertos with David Belkovski, and some other surprises. By the way, that the season announcement doesn't include everything. There are some wonderful surprises still to come, which, if I told you, then they wouldn't be surprises anymore. But we're looking at there are three different beautiful churches, and we're basically in the process of deciding which concerts will go where, and we will be also reaching out into the community by playing in some of the really excellent high school auditoriums, of which there are, you know, there's one in particular that's really outstanding, so the idea is, you know, to be in as many different places as possible. The big concerts will be at the Lila Cockrell, because we need a big space for Carmina Burana and for Beethoven nine and Mahler five, but there's a lot of music we can play in medium size halls and smaller size halls as well.
Nathan Cone: Well, programming-wise, I remember when you came in for the San Antonio Philharmonic, it was talked about your being a Spanish language speaker, looking towards bringing more music of the Americas in. Is that in your vision and future as well for this organization?
Jeffrey Kahane: Yeah, I don't know if you saw this, but our composer in residence is Andrea Casarrubios, who is a Spanish American composer, (and) we did her cello concerto last year with Tommy Mesa, and it was a huge hit. And our principal guest conductor is Cosette Justo Valdés. Cosette is a Cuban conductor, amazing person, amazing musician, wonderful educator. And she's going to be doing one of the side by sides, she'll be doing the Tchaikovsky fifth symphony with members of YOSA, and I'm doing music by Juan Pablo Contreras, who's my very good friend. There, there will be a lot of music of the Americas, and not just North America.
Nathan Cone: Nice, and earlier we talked about the makeup, or we hinted at the makeup of the orchestra, and is this going to be a musician-led organization, you know? And who will be the players in the, in the Harmonium of Texas?
Jeffrey Kahane: Well, we have just now sent out invitations to people to participate, and the first round of those is going to musicians in San Antonio, and a few musicians who may be coming from Austin who have been playing in San Antonio. The response has been a great deal of excitement and enthusiasm and gratitude from the musicians who've received invitations. I can't tell you who the membership will be, but the idea is to support first and foremost the musicians of San Antonio, and then, as needed, we will reach out beyond our borders.
Jim Berg: And they will not be exclusively Harmonium performers.
Jeffrey Kahane: That's very important to stress, is that not only are we not demanding exclusive loyalty to Harmonium, we're encouraging everybody to play as much and as often as they can, because it's hard to make a living as an orchestral musician. In fact, you can't really make a living as an orchestral musician here right now...
Nathan Cone: So it'll be a per show pay as well.
Jeffrey Kahane: For the moment, it will be per service.
Nathan Cone: And are there any union issues that you have to work through with any of this?
Jeffrey Kahane: No, the union is very well aware of this. It's a union orchestra. We don't have a CBA at the moment, collective bargaining agreement, because you have to have an orchestra before you have a CBA, but the goal is to have that in place, we hope by next fall, or as early as the end of the season.
Nathan Cone: I think you spoke to TPR’s Jack Morgan about this in December about there being “drama,” and we've alluded to this as well in San Antonio and South Texas. So like, for the fans, for the donors, for the people that want to see an orchestra like Harmonium of Texas succeed, what are the words that you would say to them? For the tired and distressed classical music fans and donors who are worried about not only Harmonium, but about, you know, is this going to work? You know, comments ever
Jim Berg: Ever since Max Reiter came up with this idea in 1939, we've had issues in San Antonio, and they're not going to stop. But my motto has been for musicians ... since I lived in a musical family and spawned a musical daughter. All we want from our musicians is music, and that's all they want to do is play music. So, my motto is music and no drama. We're through with drama. Just play the music, and let's love the music for what it is. We're gonna make it happen in San Antonio, and I encourage anybody who's listening to this today to get a hold of me and talk to me about how you can help support Harmonium.
Nathan Cone: So, how can people get a hold of you? What's the best way?
Jeffrey Kahane: We have a website that was just launched a few days ago that has information on how to, how to donate. It has information about the season. The tickets are not going to be on sale until I believe end of July, but soon enough there will be a ticket sales link, and but we're gratefully accepting donations. The website is HarmoniumofTexas.org.
Jim Berg: And my email, is jimberg513 @ gmail.com. I wish anybody who is interested in being involved or contributing to our effort to get ahold of me.
Jeffrey Kahane: I was just going to say one final thing, because I know that some people are undoubtedly wondering what is this name, Harmonium of Texas, which is a perfectly reasonable question. When this small group of people, when we started discussing the idea, I thought, well, we have to have a name, and I thought of Harmonia, because Harmonia, of course, is the Greek goddess of harmony. I happened to be highly invested in studying Greek literature and Roman literature, and the thing about Harmonia is she, she is a symbol of harmony, but it turns out that her children and grandchildren, her descendants were always squabbling with each other, so there was a great deal of conflict. So I decided, and then the idea of Harmonium, and for those who don't know what a harmonium is, it's a musical instrument. It's a very simple, very beautiful musical instrument that is often used to accompany singing. It's the kind of thing you might find in a, in a 19th, you might find one in a 19th century American household. It's a pedal [controlled instrument], you know, you pump the air, and it's a beautiful instrument that makes very simple [sounds]. It's designed to be simple, and I think the idea of beauty and simplicity was, you know ... it just seemed like the right idea.
