Arts Alive San Antonio

By JASMINA WELLINGHOFF, Editor

Most San Antonians know that our city has the San Antonio Philharmonic, the successor orchestra to the San Antonio Symphony, which closed several years ago. But we also have another symphony orchestra – The South Texas Symphonic Orchestra, or STXSO for short. And there’s no better time to introduce it to you than this week. The 76-member ensemble, led by conductor and composer Ronnie Sanders, will present a concert that sounds appealing.

The organization’s website explains: “The South Texas Symphonic Orchestra was created to unite humanity through the performance of the greatest music ever written.” It further states: “We desire to become a driving educational and economic force. We strive to attract visitors and encourage investment in the economy of South Texas.”

For its first concert in the new year, the nonprofit ensemble will perform a concert titled “Liszt and More” at the University of Texas San Antonio, that will also feature “incredibly talented” Turkish-born pianist Eymen Geylan who is getting her master’s degree at the school. This concert is a scholastic requirement for her.

“Eymen Geylan is the star of the show,” said Sanders, who founded STXSO. “What makes this concert so special is that we have this gifted artist as a collaborative musician with the orchestra.” He further explained that these kind of “graduation” concerts do not usually include an orchestra. The orchestral parts are played on another piano. “But Geylan is a visionary. She wasn’t satisfied with that. She wanted an actual orchestra,” he said. “So, she started researching the possibilities in San Antonio. “She eventually contacted me, and we talked, looked at the score and discussed it, and chose a date for the concert. The whole thing took about a year to plan. She is a wonderful, wonderful keyboard artist and she has memorized all the music.” he added.

Geylan will open the concert with Liszt’s Paino Concerto No.2 where the solo piano and the orchestra are intertwined; complementing each other. “There are passages when she plays by herself before the orchestra comes back in gently. It’s a beautiful piece of music,” explained Sanders.

Also on the program are Saint-Saens’ “Bacchanale” from “Samson and Delila” and “Danza a la Aurora”
(Dance to the Dawn”) by Federico Chavez-Blanco, a living composer from Mexico who calls San Antonio home. “An American Anthem” by Anthony DiLorenzo concludes the program, although a piece or two may be added.

Sanders met Chavez-Blanco several years ago at the ceremony in San Pedro Park where one of the composer’s pieces was performed. Chavez-Blanco draws inspiration from Mexican folk music and his own experiences of life in Mexico, but also from other genres of music. He can “paint the picture of morning sunrise with his music,” noted Sanders.

In addition, two singers will grace the stage with famous operatic arias. Tenor Richard Novak, who has performed across the U.S., Italy, Germany, Japan, Poland and other parts of the world will sing “Nessun Dorma” from Giacomo Puccini’s opera “Turandot,” and soprano Emily Densmore will perform “O mio Bambino Caro” from “Gianni Schicchi.” Densmore will also make an appearance with the UTSA Orchestra in April.

 Sanders earned a Grammy Signature Award for excellence in music education, and was appointed by former Texas governor Rick Perry to serve on the Texas Commission on the Arts, from 2011 – 2018. He earned a master’s degree in conducting from the University of Houston, and a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from Boston University. All the musicians, including Sanders, are volunteers.
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 (Saturday, Feb 24 at 7:30 p.m.; Recital Hall, Fine Arts Building, UTSA Main Campus; free and open to the public; a number of VIP tickets will be sold for $20; for more info contact info@stxso.com
or 210-843-2609; The STXSO is open to all qualified musicians.)