After a nearly five and a half hour meeting Wednesday evening between San Antonio Symphony management and the musicians' union, the Symphony Society of San Antonio will suspend the rest of the season after midnight Sunday.
A statement from Symphony Society board chair Alice Viroslav didn't say why the season was ending, but the troubled symphony has been limping along financially for quite some time. Its most recent round of financial woes came to light Dec. 21 when the group of large donors backed away from their plans to take over managing the symphony.
They ceded responsibility back to the San Antonio Symphony Society, the group that had run the symphony since its creation in 1939.
Subsequently, the musicians' union contract ran out on Dec. 31, leaving Friday and Saturday night's Tobin Center performances in question.
The expired contract had the musicians working 30 weeks this season, but union members were asked to consider working fewer weeks to keep expenses down.
This is a shock to all of the musicians of the San Antonio Symphony.
— Musicians of the SA Symphony (@musiciansofSAS) January 4, 2018
Jack Morgan can be reached at jack@tpr.org
