MERRY CHRISTMAS And Best Wishes for a Safe and Happy Holiday Season To All Our Readers

Ballet San Antonio has a Christmas gift for you. In a wonderful gesture of holiday generosity, the company has made its 2020 production of “The Nutcracker” accessible to all via YouTube, free of charge. Different from all previous versions, this is a COVID-19-imposed reinvention of the classical staging, born out of need and ingenuity. It will be available for streaming …

It’s holiday time but, thanks to COVID-19, we can’t do a lot of things that we normally do, like going to festive shows or gather with friends and family. But there’s a silver lining: we can still go outside to explore the outdoors. You may be surprised to discover that San Antonio and Bexar County have lots of parks, large …

‘Tis the season for “The Nutcracker”!  Though Ballet San Antonio’s 2020 edition of the beloved show closed last Sunday, here comes another one, produced by the Children’s Ballet of San Antonio, the pre-professional company of talented dancers led by the former principal dancer of the National Ballet of Panama, Vanessa Bessler. These dancers may be young but many are quite …

By JASMINA WELLINGHOFF, Editor For 26 years, jazz lovers have flocked to the Balcones Heights Jazz Festival in July to listen to great music played outdoors on balmy summer nights. Pictures show a packed amphitheater just outside the Wonderland of the Americas Mall, with people lounging on chairs and blankets around a shallow pool of water, facing the make-shift stage …

By JASMINA WELLINGHOFF, Editor — Kate Thomas was seven when her parents first signed her up for recreational dance classes at the Dance Center of San Antonio. But the school’s founder, Vanessa Bessler, quickly detected that her new student had the potential to become a real dancer and suggested that the girl be moved into the intensive program. “I spotted …

This Sunday, Dec. 13, The Agarita Chamber Players will kickstart their new initiative that brings music to the people in outdoor settings for free. Named Humble Hall, it will take the four Agarita members to all ten districts of San Antonio, starting with District 1. The first concert will take place at the open-air garden behind the Witte Museum at …

By JASMINA WELLINGHOFF, Editor — After a longish search for a new executive director, the board of Luminaria has selected local arts advocate and marketing/PR specialist, Yadhira Lozano, as its new top executive. She succeeds Kathy Armstrong who led the organization for five years. “I think it’s great. It’s wonderful,” said Lozano who had applied a while back and was …

By JASMINA WELLINGHOFF, Editor — Come spring, you may have a unique opportunity to hear top-notch musicians play beautiful music at your neighborhood park or other outdoor space near you. The group that plans to do that is Agarita Chamber Players, a quartet of talented young musicians with a sterling classical music education and a growing reputation for innovative and …

The Tobin Center for the Performing Arts will be alive with the sound of music and laughter in the next few days. First up is “Blood and Holly: Christmas West of the Pecos” featuring one of San Antonio’s favorite stage personalities, Jaston Williams of the Greater Tuna fame. In this new one-man show, “Jaston Williams remembers Christmas in childhood as …