Arts Alive San Antonio

The San Antonio Philharmonic may have wrapped up its season but others have stepped in to provide classical & art music, even sooner than we expected.

In fact, The Classical Music Institute (CMI) will be presenting a festival – CMI 210 Festival – this summer, starting with a concert this weekend. On the program are works by Galina Grigorieva, Peteris Vasks and Tchaikovsky, performed by Venezuelan violist, Ramon Carrero, and the CMI Chamber Orchestra, with Leonardo Pineda conducting. (June 10 at 7:30 p.m.; Carlos Alvarez Theater at Tobin Center; tickets are $45; www.cmi-sa.org) The next concert in the series takes place June 15 with works by Vivaldi, Giuseppe Valentini and Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, the son the famous Johann Sebastian Bach.

Symphony VIVA will conclude its seventh season with Gustav Holst’s “The Planets,” an epic symphonic work exploring a voyage into the extraterrestrial space.And they got an ideal hall for this performance, the sanctuary of the University United Methodist Church in North San Antonio. The orchestra will feature 40+ strings, bass flute, bass oboe, bass clarinet, contrabassoon, two harps, and “all the other colorful winds and percussion instruments. Sounds great to us! (June 11 at 4 p.m.; University United Methodist Church, 5084 DE Zavala RD., 78249; tickets are $20 for adults, $10 for children, available at https://ticketpeak.co/acpaa/events; for info contact 210-369-8311, info@acpaainc.org)

The San Antonio Recorder Quartet will present a concert of Renaissance and Baroque music, both sacred and secular, from the 16^th, 17^th, and 18^th centuries. They perform using 31 different historically accurate recorders from those periods. (June 11 at 4 p.m., at the Madison Square Presbyterian Church, 319 Camden St., 78215; 210-378-9216; free, with free parking.)

And there will be music downtown! The always popular Fiesta Noche del Rio is returning to the Arneson River Theater for its summer 2023 season. Musicians and dancers will entertain again with Mariachi music, flamenco dancing and singing, colorful costumes and super dynamic presentations that audiences love. The summer series is sponsored by the Alamo Kiwanis Club. (Friday and Saturday nights at 8:30 p.m.; Arneson River Theater in La Villita, 418 Villita St. on the River Walk; from June 9 – August 5.; tickets are $8-$20, available online and at HEB; for more info call 210-226-4651, http://fiestanochesa.com/)

Speaking of downtown, the Summer Night City Live Concert Series will continue June 15 with The Velvet Saddles and Nicky Diamonds. Each show begins with a dog-friendly Yappy Hour from 5 to 6 p.m. with live music starting at 7:30 p.m. The series continues every Thursday through June and July; Legacy Park.

Mike & The Middletones Charity Concert @ the Magik Theater. The group has been performing for many years at the annual Wurstfest in New Braunfels, combining the accordion, tuba and drums to preserve the style of German-European music, so close to the hearts of many early immigrants of the late 1800s. (June 11 at 4 p.m.; event organized by Dreams Fulfilled Through Music; Magik Theatre, 420 S. Alamo; 210-227-2751 or info@magiktheatre.org; tickets are $25-$35; For more info on Dreams Fulfilled Through Music, visit www.dftm.org)

The Brownout Band from Austin will be at the Carver Community Cultural Center Saturday. The nine-member ensemble has developed its own style by blending rock, soul and funk with Latin influences and rhythms. (June 10 at 8 p.m.; Carver Center, 226 N. Hackberry; tickets are $25 through Ticketmaster. To reach the Carver call 210-207-2234)

The “Queen of Neo Soul,” Erykah Badu, will wow the crowds at the AT&T Center when her “Unfollow Me” tour stops in San Antonio. (June 11 at 7:30 p.m.; AT&T Center; tickets are $63.95- $329, through Ticketmaster.)

Another tour will bring Mexican rock musician, Jorge Siddartha to town. He was nominated for the Latin Grammy twice, in 2014 and 2022. (June 9 at 8 p.m.; Aztec Theater, 104 N. St. Mary’s St., 78205; 210-812-4355, www.theaztectheatre.com)

 We hardly have any professional dance shows in the summer but one of the best – Riverdance – is back on a tour, refreshed, and “reinvented,” with “spectacular lighting projections” and new stage and costume design. The show was a huge success when it premiered on the international scene 25 years ago. (June 9 at 8 p.m.; June 10 at 2 and 8 p.m.; June 11 at 2 and 7:30 p.m.; tickets are $32-$125, at Ticketmaster. The show is part of Broadway in San Antonio; Majestic Theater, 224 E. Houston.)

Which leads us to “Footloose,” a show with lots of dancing, that will open this weekend at the Public Theater of San Antonio. The musical is based on the screenplay for the film “Footloose” by Dean Pitchford.  The stage version has a score by Tony-nominated Tom Snow.

The story is about Ren, a teenager, who, after moving from Chicago to a small farming town, has to cope with local mores, including a ban on dancing. “The heartfelt story that emerges pins a father longing for a son he lost against a young man aching for the father who walked out of him,” says the press release. The show is directed by Laura Michelle Wolfe Hoadley and Claudia de Vasco.  The cast includes Russel J. Scott as Ren, Megan DeYoung as his mother, and E.L. Jones as the Reverend Shaw Moore who banned dancing. The musical has a large cast, including members of the Actor’s Equity Association. (Opens June 9 at 7:30 p.m. and runs through June 25; There are special dates such as “Pay What You Will Night” and “Community Engagement Night” and ASL Interpreted Performance. To see all the options, go to the company’s site www.thepublicsa.org. For tickets: $15 (for children) to $45, (standard) contact the box office at boxoffice@thepublicsa.org or call 210-733-7258)

The always busy Overtime Theater is opening the new original play: “The Mountain King,” a Western Play by Lemuell Mitchell.  It is set in the badlands of the Dakota Territory in 1876. The main character is Joshua, “a naïve young greenhorn from back East.” Kady is his debaucherous and drunken Mountain King. Tensions rise as the men’s differences and the mysterious purpose of their expedition threaten the mission and their very lives. Sounds intriguing! (Opens June 9 and runs through July 1^st; Fridays-Saturdays at 8 p.m., with one Sunday matinee on June 25^th at 3 p.m. There’s also Pay-What-You-Will
night on Thursday, June 22 at 8 p.m.; ticlets $18; The Overtime Theater, 5409 Bandera Rd. Ste 205, 78238; 210-557-7562; https://theovertimetheater.org)

The Wonder Theater (previously known as the Woodlawn Theater) invites you to purchase “season passes” for the remaining three shows in 2023. Those are “Grease,” “Into the Woods,” and “Meet Me in St. Louis.” ($72, box office 210-267-8388, open Wed.-Sat. 2-5 p.m.; 1920 Fredericksburg Rd.) The company’s first show of 2024 will be “Kinky Boots” at their new home inside the Wonderland of the Americas Mall. (The move has been postponed several times, so far, so stay tuned!)

On the visual Arts front, there’s no shortage of exhibits to see. In fact, we can’t mention them all.
Last week we told you about the exhibits at the Contemporary at Blue Star. The main exhibit is
“Actions for the Earth: Art, Care & Ecology, a traveling show produced by Independent Curators International, featuring the work of 18 artists. There are also three separate, smaller exhibits. Please consult last week’s NEWS ROUNDUP for more information. (Contemporary at Blue Star is in the Blue Star complex, on King William St.; 210-227-6960; https://contemporarysa.org)

Another ongoing exhibit is “Southwest Rising: Contemporary Art and the Legacy of Elaine Horwitch” at the Briscoe Museum. (Briscoe Museum, 210-W. Market; 210-299-4499, www.briscoemuseum.org)

Soy de Tejas, the exhibit organized by the city’s Arts & Culture Department, is having one last event before the show closes: Artist Talk and Q&A on June 15. Moderated by curator Rigoberto Luna, the event will also involve Angel Cabrales (El Paso), Melissa Gamez-Herrera (San Antonio, Gabriel Martinez (Houston), Tina Medina (Dallas) and Josue Ramirez (McAllen). (Free and open to the public; 6 p.m.; Centro de Artes is at 101 S. Santa Rosa St).

New Exibitions

Well-known San Antonio sculptor Danville Chadbourne will show his original and unusual sculptures in a new show at the Central Library downtown. (Yes, the red library!) Though he’s best known for his wood sculptures, this time he will be showing ceramic works and a selection of paintings. This exhibit “explores the bold colors, textures and forms Chadbourne is known for, emphasizing the continuity between his large physical forms and the layered imagery of the painting,” says the press release.

The library also displays other art works, so there’s a lot to explore. (Opening reception is June 13, 6-9 p.m.; will stay on view through Aug. 31.; access to the library is free)

The Dock Space Gallery is opening an exhibition of works of Justin Parr: “Simplex Objects: Relics of Future Past” Under this clever title, the artist is exploring a series of objects made from solid rods of glass, sometimes incorporating charged neon gas and other glass-based work. (Opening reception is on June 10 T 6 p.m.; 107 Lone Star BLVD; 210-723-3048; free. By appointment after the opening.)

Bihl Haus Arts is hosting a “Wellness Living” event in partnership with WellMed. The event will feature health vendors and various activities, plus actual art created by the participants of their GO! Arts program. The works will be for sale. (June 11, 10 a.m. to noon.; 2803 Fredericksburg Rd., 78201; 210-383-9723; www.bihlhausarts.org)

Gemini Ink, San Antonio’s Writing Center, is offering a 6-week workshop for writers with best-selling author Laura Castoro as the guide. Writers will explore how to read more deeply “so we can deconstruct how the author sets the mood, adheres to or manipulates conventions, and plays with boundaries.”
(Dates: June 7,14,21, & 28; July 12 &19; 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.; via Zoom or in-person.; for more info visit http://www.geminiink.org)