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The San Antonio Philharmonic has resolved several of the legal disputes that have followed the orchestra in recent years.
The organization will pay a combined $232,000 by Aug. 7: $215,000 to David Wood and Colette Holt, $10,000 to former board chair Ian Thompson III and $7,000 to Philharmonic co-founder and French horn player Peter Rubins. The agreement does not include any admission of liability or wrongdoing.
The dispute began in September 2024, when Wood and Holt sued the Philharmonic, saying it had failed to repay a $150,000 loan to secure a collection of the former San Antonio Symphony’s orchestra instruments and its music library.
The Philharmonic later filed counterclaims, and the case was combined with separate litigation over the orchestra’s board and governance.
After the payments are made, the lawsuits will be dismissed permanently. Sherry Rubins will also drop employment discrimination complaints filed with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the Texas Workforce Commission, while Peter Rubins will withdraw a union complaint.
Philharmonic Executive Director Roberto Treviño said in a statement to TPR that the orchestra “reluctantly settled” because it was the responsible decision for its finances and donors.
“Every dollar we didn’t spend on prolonged litigation is a dollar we can spend on the music,” he said.
Wood and Holt said the Philharmonic will pay every dollar they sought and described the outcome as validation of concerns about the organization’s leadership, finances and governance.
The agreement does not resolve the Philharmonic’s separate financial dispute with the San Antonio Scottish Rite Library and Museum. The two organizations had planned to jointly own and redevelop Scottish Rite Hall as the orchestra’s permanent home, but they disagree over whether the Philharmonic met its financial obligations under the agreement. That case remains active in Bexar County district court.
The Philharmonic was created in 2022 by musicians from the San Antonio Symphony after that organization dissolved and filed for bankruptcy. Since then, the new orchestra has faced funding challenges, leadership conflicts and ongoing legal disputes as it has worked to establish a permanent footing in San Antonio.
“San Antonio deserves a great orchestra,” Wood and Holt said in a statement provided to TPR. “It also deserves transparency, accountability, competent governance, financial responsibility, and respect for the community that supports it.”
