Arts Alive San Antonio

The Tejano Conjunto Festival celebrates its 40^th anniversary this year, as the first and longest-running conjunto fest in the U.S.“…Forty years is an incredible testament to the community’s love for conjunto music.” said Cristina Balli, executive director of the Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center. Indeed.

All the best- known artists will perform, including the six-time Grammy Award winner, Flaco Jimenez with Los Texmaniacs, Lazaro Perez y Su Conjunto, the South Texas Homies, Ricky Naranjo y Los Gamblers, Jay Perez, Los D Boys, and others. The festivities start May 16 and conclude on the 22, with events taking place both at the Guadalupe Theater and in Rosedale Park. Over the weekend some 30 bands will play. In addition, a symposium will be held May 16 “on the state and future of Tejano music,” to be followed the next day with screenings of videos/films focusing on conjunto.  The big dancing and fun celebration is scheduled for May 18 at Rosedale Park where attendees will dance to their favorite music. It’s a separately ticketed event, with single tickets going for $40 and couple admission at $70.

To see the full schedule and get tickets visit https://guadalupeculturalarts.org/tejano-conjunto-festival/

Despite the disputes between the San Antonio Symphony management and the musicians who have been on strike since last September, San Antonians will get to hear some symphonic music this weekend thanks to the MOSAS Performance Fund, a nonprofit founded by the musicians themselves. They will perform their second pair of concerts at the First Baptist Church, May 12-13. The concerts will be conducted by the former SAS music director, Sebastian Lang-Lessing. On the program: “Melody” by Ukrainian composer Miroslav Skoryk, Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto, and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7.
(May 12-13 at 7:30 p.m., First Baptist Church, 515 McCullough; tickets $20 plus $10 parking; www.fbcsa.org/mosas)

The Children’s Chorus of San Antonio is presenting a multimedia concert named Sounds in Color in collaboration with animation and film arts students from the Say Si programs and the Southwest School of Arts. (May 15 at 4 p.m.; Tobin Center, 100 Auditorium Circle, tickets at tickets@tobincenter.org or call 210-223-8624)

Also on Sunday, May 15, the South Texas Symphonic Orchestra will perform the world premiere of Leon Steward’s Symphony No. 15, and Anton’s Brucker’s 4th Symphony at UTSA’s Music Building’s Recital Hall. The orchestra is led by music director and conductor Ronnie Sanders who often conducts from memory, without a score. He earned a Grammy Signature Award for excellence in music education both in 2010 and 2016. (May 15 at 3 p.m.; free and open to the public.)

The Caritas Concert Series will conclude Sunday with a performance by award-winning organist, Adam Pajan, who is a member of the University of Oklahoma music faculty, where he teaches church music, organ technology and organ playing. He has also won top prizes in prestigious organ competitions. (May 15 at 3 p.m.; the Chapel of the Incarnate Word, 4503 Broadway; free. The chapel is the motherhouse of the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word.)

Black Violin is a duo of two classically trained musicians – Wil B (viola) and Kev Marcus (violin) – whose performances sizzle with a blend of classical and hip-hop styles. Their show at the Tobin Center was postponed twice but they will finally be here Wednesday with DJSPS and drummer Nat Stokes (May 18 at 7:30 p.m., Tobin Center, 100 Auditorium Circle, tickets $24.50 – $55, tickets@tobincenter.org or 210-223-8624)

More music making on Sunday will take place at the Travis Park Church, where Godspell – A Musical Sampling will be performed by the Alamo City Street Choir, the Travis Park Church Choir and the Emmaus Youth Choir. “Prepare ye for an afternoon of Godspell selections!  “Community will be present in full: unhoused and housed individuals” says the announcement. (May 15 at 2 p.m., Travis Park Church, 230 E. Travis St., 78205) Donations will be accepted.

And more music, though of a different kind: The Tobin Center is presenting a concert by rapper Kevin Gates at the new Tech Port Arena. Gates was the 2^nd best-selling hip-hop artist in 2016, behind Drake.
(May 14 at 8 p.m. Tech Port Arena, 3331 General Hudnell Dr., 78226, about 7 miles from downtown; tickets $54.50-$79.50, www.techportcenter.com or call 1-800-514-3849)

For a more exotic experience, you may want to opt for some Arabic music and belly dancing. On Friday and Saturday, Karavan Studio dancers will demonstrate their skills at the Jump-Start Theater, accompanied by musicians Michael Ibrahim and Gilbert Mansour, and singer Nibal Malshi (Jump-Start Theater, 710 Fredericksburg Rd., 7 p.m.; On Sunday, Karavan Studio dancers will perform improvised dances at the Jewel, 1102 S. Alamo St., no cover charge. For more info visit www.karavanstudio.com)

And again, Sunday, Las Casas Foundation will be presenting the 2022 JOCI Awards, a one-night showcase of 25 area performing arts students – and stars of the future – who are competing for more than $100,000 in scholarships. (May 15 at 6 p.m.; Empire Theater; free)

There’s a lot going on in the visual arts as well.

The Witte Museum is getting ready to open a unique exhibit: the paintings of “rediscovered” Texas artist J.F. McCan who painted the sights and experiences of Texas life more than a century ago. The exhibition complements the theme of Changing Landscapes, the 2022 Conference on Texas. The exhibit opens May 17. We are looking forward to seeing it. You can find out more about the conference at www.wittemuseum.org/event/conference-on-texas-changing-landscapes/

San Antonio premier professional gallery, Ruiz-Healy Art, has just installed a new exhibit: Gabby Collins-Fernandez & Carlos Rosales-Silva: Applied Pressure. “The artists intersect in their experimental uses of color and texture to create abstract works that manipulate images,” says the press release. (The show opens May 18 at the gallery, 201-A E. Olmos Drive, 78212; open Wed. Saturday, 11 a.m. – 4 p.m. and by appointment; 210-804-2219 or info@ruizhealyart.com)

At the Hunt Gallery nearby, you will find the original, wood-based art of Danville Chadbourne,  an artist who has developed a unique way to work with wood, creating eloquent but enigmatic 2 and 3-D pieces, often in dialog with the material itself. (Opens May 12, 6-8 p.m.; Hunt Gallery, 4225 McCullough, 78212, 210-822-6527; Artist Talk, May 28, 1 p.m.)

The Clamp Light Studios & Gallery will host Allegories – Crowns – Maidens, a three-person exhibition curated by Raul Rene Gonzalez. The three artists are: Alisa Sikelianos-Carter, Lanecia Rouse Tinsley & Symone Martinez. (Opening reception May 13 at 6 p.m.; Clamp Light Gallery, 1704 Blanco, Ste.104, 78212;  infoclamplightstudios@gmail.com or call 210-987-7276; free)

You may have heard the story of the Roman bust that a lucky collector, named Laura Young, purchased at a Goodwill store in 2018 for less than $35. That bust turned out to be old, really old, going back to Roman times. According to reports, the sculpture was part of the collection of King Ludwig I of Bavaria and somehow disappeared following World War II. Well, that treasure is currently on view at the San Antonio Museum of Art for a time before it travels back to Germany in 2023. (San Antonio Museum of Art, 200, West Jones Ave., https://www.samuseum.org)

Bihl Hau Arts is hosting FRED Sings/ “Sound Scapes,”featuring the jazz music of George Prado and Larry Natwick. The current exhibit in the sunny gallery will undoubtedly enhance your experience. (Sunday at 2 p.m., Bihl Haus Arts, 2803 Fredericksburg Rd., www.bihlhausarts.org, 210-383-9723.)

Theater is not very lively these days but here’s a show that sounds like fun: The Back-Porch Gang at the Overtime Theater. Described as “a fun-filled journey about love, loss and renewal,” it is directed by Jade Esteban Estrada, and stars: Joe De Mott, Barbara Hartman, Ida Steele, Beth Lamy, Kurt Grabenstein and Denise Swain. It’s a new play by Ben Scranton. The press release says that the majority of the cast are folks older than 70. On opening weekend, they received standing ovations after both performances. Scranton’s work is an official selection of 2022 New Play Development Series initiated by Estrada during his brief tenure as artistic director of the Overtime. (May 6-21, Fridays & Saturdays at 8 p.m., Sunday, May 15, at 3 p.m.; Overtime Theater, 5409 Bandera Rd., suite 205, 78238; 210-577-7562; tickets $12-$18, at the door or at www.ShowTix4u.com. Unfortunately, there’s some less happy news from the Overtime. Both Estrada and managing director Nicole Irwin, a pillar of the Overtime, have left the company.

National Poetry Month is well behind us but poetry events continue. A Poetry Night is scheduled for May 18 at the Culture Commons Gallery, right behind City Hall. At present, you can see the exhibit, Status of Women in San Antonio, that features female artists. On May 18, eight San Antonio poets will read their work inspired by the exhibit. They are: Bett Butler, Aminah Dece, Anel Flores, Amanda Flores, Jo Reyes-Boitel, Sabrina San Miguel, Ylisha Thompson, and our hard-working poet laureate, Andrea, “Vocab” Sanderson. (May 18, 6-8 p.m., free. As for parking, you are on your own. The parking situation is not improving downtown.)