Interview with Jim Eskin

Interview with JIM ESKIN, founder of Eskin Fundraising Training                               By JASMINA WELLINGHOFF, Editor Since the majority of arts organizations are non-profits, we thought that a conversation with San Antonio’s non-profit guru, Jim Eskin, would be of interest to our readers. Eskin spent more than three decades in fundraising and public affairs before launching Eskin Fundraising Training, LLC. He presents webinars, …

News Roundup, April 17, 2025

The excellent ensemble, Camerata San Antonio, will conclude its 2024/25 season with“Romantic Resonances,” featuring the works by Saint-Saens, Mendelssohn-Hensel andDohnanyi. The full Camerata San Antonio Ensemble will collaborate in this program “that explores the richness and diversity of the Romantic era music. From the lyrical elegance ofSaint-Saens to the expressive depth of Fanny Mendelssohn and the brilliance of Dohnanyi, the …

Book Review

“Julie Chan is Dead” by Liann ZhangReviewed by Steven G. Kellman Driving under the influence is a crime, but shopping under the influence is a popular pastime. Handsomely paid pawns called “influencers” attract millions of followers on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube to videos modeling trendy clothing, cosmetics, and comestibles, to the delight of and remuneration by eager sponsors. Influencers are …

News Roundup, April 10, 2025

NEWS ROUNDUP, 4/10/ 2025 According to the press release from the San Antonio Philharmonic, this weekend’s concerts mark the beginning of a long -cherished dream of musical director, Jeffrey Kahane – to place the music of Johann Sebastian Bach at the heart of the modern symphony orchestra’s repertoire, alongside Beethoven, Brahms and Mahler.  The release further points out that despite …

News Roundup, 4/3/2025

The San Antonio Philharmonic’s Classics VIII concert will be conducted by Anthony Parnther, one of the best- known film conductors in the country. He helms recording sessions for manytop feature films and television series, working in collaboration with some of the most prominent media composers in the industry. The concerts will also feature a guitarist identified only as JIJI.  On …

Book Review

Book review: “The Imagined Life” by Andrew Porter Reviewed by Steven G. Kellman             The decades following World War II were the golden age of the campus novel – fiction about the aspirations and agonies of college life. Kingsley Amis’s Lucky Jim, Vladimir Nabokov’s Pnin, Bernard Malamud’s A New Life, John Williams’s Stoner, and David Lodge’s Changing Places were published …

“Noble Fragments”

Book Review “Noble Fragments” The gripping story of the Antiquarian Bookseller who Broke Up a Gutenberg Bible” by Michael Visontay Reviewed by Steven G. Kellman             At the entrance to exhibitions at the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center in Austin, a visitor encounters the institution’s crown jewel – a complete Gutenberg Bible. One of the rarest of bibliophilic treasures, it …

News Roundup. 3,20, 2025

The San Antonio Philharmonic’s Classics VII concert will feature Liszt’s Paino Concerto No.1 with Ukrainian pianist, Illia Ovcharenko, at the piano.  Other pieces on the program are:Tchaikovsky’s “Romeo and Juliet Overture-Fantasy,” Bernstein’s Symphonic Dances from “West Side Story” and Dukas’ “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice.” The whimsical and spellbinding tale of Dukas’ “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice” is a scintillating miniature masterpiece, made famous …