Arts Alive San Antonio

Fiesta is behind us but National Poetry Month continues and the music scene promises some goodies.

For all of you who have been missing the San Antonio Symphony concerts, there’s good news. Though the strike continues and negotiations with management are still apparently ongoing, the musicians have also lined up several concerts that they will perform under the auspices of their own nonprofit organization called MOSAS Performance Fund.

The April concerts are scheduled for April 21 and 23. The program features compositions by beloved classical composers such as Verdi ( “La Forza Del Destino” Overture); Tchaikovsky “(Romeo and Juliet Fantasy” Overture); Debussy (“Prelude to the Afternoon of a Fawn”), and Beethoven (Symphony No.6, “Pastoral”). The orchestra will be conducted by Stefan Sanders, music director of the Central Texas Philharmonic and the Fayetteville Symphony Orchestra. In 2014, he conducted the San Antonio Symphony in a series of Young People’s concerts.

In addition, MOSAS – which stands for Musicians of the San Antonio Symphony- will present a free Family Concert on April 23 at 10 a.m. at the First Baptist Church of San Antonio. In fact, all concerts will take place at this church. (April 21 and 23 at 7:30 p.m.; 515 McCullough Ave.; tickets $20 plus fee and sales tax; parking $10; www.eventbrite.com or https://mosasperformingfund.org.

Organ lovers will be in heaven Friday afternoon when no less than 14 organists will present a unique concert of Marcel Dupre’s “Stations of the Cross” based on the poetry of Paul Claudel. The organ setting of each station will be coupled with a reading of the corresponding poem, with time for quiet reflection after each. Originally performed in 1931 in Brussels, the work “weaves 14 poems with improvisational reflections by Dupre.” The poems will be read by 14 Sisters of the Incarnate Word and the 14 organists are all from the San Antonio area, including Mary Ann Winden, the founder of the Caritas Series of concerts. (April 15 at 3 p.m.; Chapel of the Incarnate World, 4503 Broadway; free)

A different music event will take place April 19 at the Tobin Center: The classic rock band Foreigner, one of the Top 40 Bestselling Music Artists of all Times will fill the Tobin Center with the familiar sounds of its many hits, such as “Juke Box Hero,” “Cold as Ice,” “Long, long Way from Home,” and others. Founder Mick Jones, a guitarist and songwriter, first gained fame by working with French superstars of the 60s, Johnny Hallyday and Sylvie Vartan. The John Jay High School choir will open the San Antonio concert and Foreigner will donate to the school’s music program. Nice! (Tobin Center, April 19 at 7:30 p.m.; lobby opens at 6:30 p.m.; $59.75 – $139.75; tickets@tobincenter.org or call 210-223-8624)

Fans of Donna Summer will probably enjoy “Summer – The Donna Summer Musical” at the Majestic Theater. starting April 19 and running through the 24^th. Summer sold 140M records and won five Grammy Awards. She was nominated 18 times and won in four different genres: rock, dance, R&B and “inspirational.” Reviewers were kind to the musical, with one calling the show “Pure Bliss.” (April 19-24 at 7:30 p.m.; Majestic Theater 224 E. Houston; Tickets start at $45; call 210-226-3333, info@majesticempire.com)

 Columbian singer J. Balvin, who has sold more than 755M records worldwide, has canceled his April 19 show at the AT&T Center due to challenges caused by COVID -19. He promises that all already purchased tickets will be honored when he resumes his tour.

On the visual arts front, the most fun event coming up is the annual On and Off Fredericksburg Road Studio Tour¸ which was suspended for two years due to the COVID pandemic. Organized by Bihl Haus Arts, it’s a self-guided tour of artists’ studios, homes and galleries in the area around Bihl Haus. This year, more than 50 artists will open their creative spaces to show you their art, which is also available for purchase. One big change is that the 2022 Studio Tour will take place over two weekends instead of the usual single weekend. The exploration starts on April 22 with the Fred Autograph Party and Launch at Bihl Haus Arts. There, you can get a catalog to help you map your adventure. Hard copies of the catalog and admission for two – $10 in advance, $15 at door – will be available at several locations. More about that next week. (April 22, 5:30 to 8:30 p.m.; Bihl Haus Arts, 2803 Fredericksburg; 210-383-9723)

An Arte Gallery is presenting the Lilianna Story exhibit, “La Charreada,” which will be on view through May 2. A reception and art talk, starting at 5:30 p.m. is scheduled for April 14, with music by DJ Jevonchi. Story is a San Antonio-based photographer focusing on portraiture, art, travel and commercial photography but this show is a vivid record of the charreada tradition that dates back to the Spanish conquest, and has become part of FIESTA, here, in San Antonio.

This Saturday, The San Antonio Botanical Garden will open a new exhibit of “monumental, nature-inspired” sculptures, “Rooted,” created by artist Steve Tobin. The emphasis seems to be on “the monumental” aspect of these new works. The sculptures will be on view through Oct. 30. (San Antonio Botanical Garden, 555 Funston St., admission $13-$19; www.sabot.org)

Say Si, a multi-faceted educational arts program for youth, is inviting interested individuals to have a conversation with its new co-executive directors, Nicole Amri and Stephen Garza-Guzman, and tour the organization’s new premises.  You’ll probably be surprised by the quality of art their students produce. (April 15, 10:30 a.m. – 2:30 p.m.; 1310 S. Brazos, 78207. RSVP to javier@si.org; for more info call 210-2012733)

National Poetry Month continues with activities and events scheduled until the end of April and slightly beyond.

Jazz Poetry Week on KRTU will have poet and Poetry Month driving force, Jim LaVilla-Havelin on the air to talk about poetry and poets with host Kory Cook, from April 18 to April 22. Readings are included. (Noon to 1 p.m. on each day; on 91.7FM KRTU, and streaming online at www.krtu.org)

Mega Corazon, an annual poetry and spoken word marathon organized by URBAN-15 keeps going through the end of the month. A lot of it is so-called “performance poetry” performed by well-known San Antonio poets, including Amalia Ortiz, Anthony “The Poet” Flores, Natalia Trevino, Marisol Cortez, Jim LaVilla-Havelin, and others. Two series exist, one for youth audiences and one for “general audiences.” A full listing is available at www.urban15.org. It’s all free and easily accessible, and fun!

ARTS ALIVE SAN ANTONIO is also participating, both as a publisher of the Ekphrastic Poetry Contest winners, and with our own event that will launch The Yellow Flag Poems, our anthology of poetry compiled during the COVID pandemic. Eight poet laureates are among the poets in the anthology, and many other well-known poets. Next week we will provide info on how to order The Yellow Flag Anthology.

San Antonio stages have come back to life and this weekend you may want to see “Carmen from Mexico,” a highly-praised one-woman play written and performed by Anna De Luna, and directed by Jorge Pina. First introduced last year, it will have two additional performances this weekend at the Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center, before the creators take it to Denver later in April. Luna’s play-with-songs deals with her mother’s experience of emigration/immigration from Mexico to the U.S. (Guadalupe Theater, 1301 Guadalupe St.; $12, www.guadalupeculturalarts.org)

This is also the last weekend to see “35mm- A Musical Exhibition” at the Public Theater od San Antonio, an original approach to musical theater that weaves together photography, story-telling, songs and acting. (The public Theater is the resident company at the historic San Pedro Playhouse, in San Pedro Park; 800 W. Ashby PL., 78212; 210-733-7258; https://thepublicsa.org

Also, San Antonio favorite funny playwright, Linda Kaufman, will present An Evening of Jewish Humor at Agudas Achim Synagogue, on April 19. (16550 Huebner Rd, 78248 (at Bitters Rd.), free admission)