The Score | Raising Capital in San Antonio

It has been a year of news headlines for the San Antonio Symphony. Starting last summer, the orchestra faced significant financial challenges and changes in board management and oversight. In January, the Symphony Society of San Antonio announced that funding concerns were forcing it to cancel the rest of the season and suspend operations. Four days later, following an outpouring of community support, new board Chairwoman Kathleen Weir Vale announced a reversal, and the 2017-18 season continued in abbreviated form. The orchestra began an aggressive fundraising campaign, and San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg and county leaders became actively involved as well, obtaining support such as challenge grants. This spring, the orchestra announced that it had raised well over $6 million. The orchestra says it expects to balance the budget by the end of its fiscal year, in August. Fittingly, the 2018-19 season, announced in April, will feature September screenings of the 1977 Star Wars: A New Hope, with the orchestra performing the John Williams score. And some of the concerts that were canceled in 2017-18—for example, Dvořák’s Symphony No. 8, and a guest appearance by pianist and conductor Jeffrey Kahane—have been rescheduled.