By JASMINA WELLINGHOFF, Editor – You were quoted as saying “There’s nothing more exciting than creating a new hall,” implying that an orchestra can mold the concert hall’s acoustics to create a unique sound. Could you elaborate on that? As the violin is the instrument of the violinist, the instrument of an orchestra is the hall. The hall that melds …

By JASMINA WELLINGHOFF, Editor – Tish Hinojosa, Patricia Vonne and Stephanie Urbina-Jones are three San Antonio natives with beautiful voices, creative minds and successful individual careers in multiple musical styles, each enjoying a substantial following not only in Texas but across the U.S. and abroad. But now, the three artists have cooked up something new and intriguing: they have joined …

By JASMINA WELLINGHOFF, Editor – Your current exhibit at the Ruiz-Healy Art gallery shows your work inspired by the time you spent in Berlin as one of the Kunstlerhaus Bethanien residency artists, selected by the Blue Star Contemporary.  How has the Berlin experience impacted you as an artist? Since, until recently, I always had to have a day job to …

By JASMINA WELLINGHOFF, Editor – The San Antonio Symphony is marking a couple of important anniversaries this year: its 80th season and the 10th and last season for its celebrated music director Sebastian Lang-Lessing. Fittingly, Lang-Lessing will conduct the orchestra in the season opener featuring Gustav Mahler’s Symphonie No. 2 in C Minor, Resurrection.  The orchestra played the same symphony …

By JASMINA WELLINGHOFF, Editor – Nowadays, many stage directors try to present classical theatrical works in contemporary setting to make them somehow more relevant, but E. Loren Meeker had no desire to go in that direction with her current staging of Giacomo Puccini’s opera Tosca, produced by Opera San Antonio. The show will premiere Thursday at the Tobin Center for …

By JASMINA WELLINGHOFF, Editor – The beloved nanny, Mary Poppins, is paying a longish visit to San Antonio and you’ll be able to spend time with her at the Public Theater of San Antonio from Sept. 13 through October 13. And, yes, she will be flying and performing her usual magic, plus singing and dancing, and helping the Banks family …

By JASMINA WELLINGHOFF, Editor – Stepping into the iconic roles of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet must be a huge challenge for most young actors, but Josh Davis and Alyx Gonzales don’t seem too intimidated. The two will portray the world’s most famous star-crossed lovers in the Classic Theater of San Antonio’s season opener Romeo and Juliet, which premieres Friday, Sept. …