Arts Alive San Antonio

Pandemic or not, San Antonio will have a 2020-21 opera season thanks to Opera San Antonio and its new partnersin the recently created Texas Opera Alliance. The latter brings together five Texas companies: OSA, the Houston Grand Opera (HGO), the Austin Opera, the Dallas Opera and the Fort Worth Opera (FWO).

Three of those, San Antonio, Houston and Austin, joined forces to produce the first show of the fall season, Vinkensport or The Finch Opera, which will be streamed virtually, Friday, Oct.23 at 7:30 p.m., for free.

 Vinkensport is an amusing contemporary work by composer David T. Little and librettist Royce Vavrek, directed by OSA’s general and artistic director E. Loren Meeker, and conducted by Austin Opera’s principal conductor Timothy Myers. The story revolves around the unusual Flemish “sport” called vinkensport that has birds as competitors, trained by eager human owners. Apparently, the competition can get pretty fierce. (To learn more, see feature story from Oct. 22 on this site.)

To watch go to www.houstongrandopera.org or to Marquee TV, www.marquee.tv. You’ll need to open an account at both places. In connection with the premiere of The Finch Opera, a few other events are scheduled throughout the day, including a pre-show Facebook watch party with HGO’s managing director Perryn Leech, Meeker, HGO dramaturg Jeremy Johnson and Annie Labatt.

It’s also exciting to announce a new season of the SOLI Chamber Ensemble, which has been kind of quiet in the last few months. The four-member group that specializes in contemporary chamber music will follow the example of the Classic Theater by taking its live, in-person performances outdoors, also at the San Antonio Botanical Garden. What can be more pleasant than music played by virtuosos in a beautiful natural setting, with a glass of wine, perhaps? All safety protocols will be followed.

The season starts with Through the Eyes and Lens of the Beholder, an intriguing program of original takes on other artists’ works – be they images, poems or music. Included is the world premiere of till our bodies into the night slip, a work by Berlin-based Canadian composer and photographer Michael Matthews. Coincidentally, his art photography is currently on view at the Art Gallery at Musical Bridges Around the World, where it opened during Fotoseptiembre USA.

Other premiering pieces on the program are: Asking a Shadow to Dance by James Scott Balentine, (a world premiere) and Recomposed Scriabin, a 2017 pieceby Jennifer Jolley in a new arrangement by Balentine (a Texas premiere).

(Oct. 25, 7:30 p.m.; tickets are $15-$25, season passes $65; No need to buy admission to the Botanical Garden. Bring your own chairs or blankets for lawn seating. Patio seating will include chairs. To purchase go to: www.solichamberensemble.com/concerts/

The latest reopening announcement comes from the San Antonio Art League & Museum which is inviting everyone to come see its annual Invitational Exhibit featuring five artists: Vie Dun-Harr, John Mattson, Tim McMeans and Momo & Pompa. On each of the upcoming four Saturdays, one artist – and in one case a duo – will be present to welcome visitors and speak about the art, starting with Dun-Harr Oct. 24, and ending with Momo & Pompa on Nov. 21. Mattson will be there on Nov. 7 and McMeans on Nov. 14.

In addition, an exhibit by eight San Antonio Art league members has been installed in the members upstairs gallery. No admission is charged and safety protocols will be followed. So, wear your mask! SAALM is the oldest art organization in San Antonio and has an important permanent collection that includes many prominent Texas artists of past and present. (Open 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Thursday-Saturday; 130 King William; www.saalm.org)

The Briscoe Western Art Museum keeps on coming up with special events and its seventh birthday is certainly a good reason to have something special in the works.This Saturday, Oct. 24, it will host a celebration of the “Many Colors of the West,” highlighting the role of black cowboys and the diversity of the legendary frontier. You will have a chance to learn about the Bexar County Buffalo Soldiers; admire the Briscoe’s newest addition donated by one of the top living Western artists, Mark Maggiori, who will be present at the unveilingof his Once Upon a Time piece; hear speakers on the topic of black cowboys, and more. It sounds like a packed day. (The museum is operating at 75% capacity at present, and masks and temperature checks are mandatory for visitors. (Admission $6-$12, kids under 12 free; 210 W. Market St., on the River Walk)

Another company that will perform at the Botanical Garden is the Magik Theatre which plans to present Senora Tortuga, Oct. 25 and Nov.1 at 2 p.m. in that open-air environment. The children’s play is about the assimilation of two cultures and two languages – English & Spanish, told through a tale of a poor family and a visitor who spins fantastical stories of the enchanted serpent and El Cucuy from Mexican folklore. (Tickets: $12-$15; bring blankets. www.magiktheatre.org)

The Woodlawn Theater continues to show movie musicals during this time when they can’t produce live shows. The movie to be screened this Saturday is The Little Shop of Horrors at 7 p.m. Tickets are $10 and must be purchased in advance, online. You are encouraged to wear a Halloween costume, plus a mask, of course, the COVID type not a Halloween mask. The Woodlawn After Dark Virtual Cabaret on Friday will feature Amanda Golden, Jimmie Nelson-Reid, Chris Fuglestad and Brian Hodges from the cast of Oklahoma. The evening will be hosted by artistic director Chris Rodriguez with pianist Darrin Newhardt. ($5). To register go to www.woodlawntheatre.org and click on “Experience.”

The Carver Community Cultural Center’s South Texas Jazz Series is featuring The Joe Caploe Group on Oct.29 in a virtual concert from the Little Carver Civic Center. The concerts are produced by CZ Digital Media and are presented in collaboration with KRTU 91.7 FM radio station. To view: www.facebook.com/KRTUFM or www.youtube.com/user/kru917

San Antonio’s fundraising guru, Jim Eskin who has been featured in ARTS ALIVE several times, has another useful workshop, 10 Truths of Fundraising’s New Frontier, scheduled for Oct 28 at 4 p.m. via Zoom. For details go to www.eskinfundraisingtraining.com

You can still see & participate in the Art Heist at the Tobin Center this weekend. The interactive show asks the audience members to solve the crime that actually occurred for real in 1990 when two thieves stole very valuable paintings from a Boston museum (see last week’s NEWS ROUNDUP). The thieves were never caught and the art was never recovered. (7 & 9 p.m. Friday, 5:30 & 10 p.m. Saturday and 5:30 and 9 p.m. Sunday; tickets: $39.50 – $44.50; call box office at 210-223-8624 or tickets@tobincenter.org)