Q&A with Cory McRae, President and CEO of Alamo City Arts
Q & A with Cory McRae, President & CEO of Alamo City Arts.
Tell us about your background as an artist? Was dance your primary art discipline?
I’m actually not an artist by training, trust me you don’t want to see me on stage… My background is in entrepreneurship I built businesses in oil and gas, construction, and millwork before stepping into the nonprofit arts world. What I bring to Alamo City Arts is the business side: vision, strategy, and the ability to build sustainable growth. That experience has been invaluable in helping our artists focus on their craft, while I focus on creating the structure and resources that allow them to thrive.
Did you create Alamo City Arts as a dance school? When?
I wasn’t a founder. Alamo City Arts began in 1992 as a dance company, presenting The Nutcracker when there was only one other production in the city. So, Alamo City Arts, then Alamo City Performing Arts Association, remained in residence at a for-profit studio until 2021.
I came on board in 2016 as President-Elect, alongside Kathleen Rodriguez Hall, who came in as Treasurer-Elect and is now our Artistic Director. Kathleen was one of the original dancers in Alamo City Dance Company back in 1992, and I can honestly say this organization would not be what it is today without her leadership. She is truly the heart and soul of Alamo City Arts not only guiding the artistic vision, but also managing the day-to-day operations with a rare blend of artistic passion and business acumen.
How did it grow and change over time?
From the beginning, our vision was bigger than ballet. That’s why we called ourselves the Alamo City Dance Company. Ballet was our foundation, but we wanted our dancers to embrace many forms of movement and storytelling.
That vision began to expand in 2018 when we partnered with a newly formed symphony to provide live music for The Nutcracker. What started as a collaboration quickly grew into a partnership, and the symphony came under our umbrella. Having a dance company with its own symphony elevated our artistry and opened new doors for musicians.
When COVID hit in 2020, we were preparing Coppélia. Instead of going dark, we got creative. We offered Zoom classes to keep dancers training, and we produced small projects for students and musicians missing milestones like graduations and residency placements. Our symphony rehearsed on baseball diamonds and performed at the Botanical Gardens, where we paired filmed concerts with imagery of the gardens. With the help of a county grant, we bought recording equipment and filmed The Nutcracker at the Witte Museum. It was shared with nonprofits across the city and even streamed inside University Health hospitals so patients could still experience the holiday tradition. We also filmed Carnival of the Animals at the San Antonio Zoo and created dance variations inspired by the McNay’s sculpture garden, which remain accessible through QR codes at the museum.
Like many long-standing San Antonio studios, the one we rented for rehearsals closed during the pandemic, leaving us without a permanent space. For a while, we rehearsed wherever we could find room. In July 2021, we finally established our own home in the former studios of the San Antonio Metropolitan Ballet. That December the Heart of Texas Concert Band and the Memory Lane Dance Band joined us, broadening our reach into new musical traditions.
In 2022, we partnered with the Harlequin Theater to bring free ballets to Fort Sam Houston including what we believe was the first Nutcracker ever performed on a U.S. military base. In 2023, we launched Alamo City Ballet Folklorico, giving folklorico students a company of their own. When the Harlequin Theater closed in 2024, we welcomed their director and formed the Alamo City Stage Company. And in 2025, we added the Alamo City Mariachi Academy, a perfect cultural partner to our folklorico company.
So, in less than a decade, what began as a single dance company has grown into a true arts family: a dance company, symphony, academy, concert band, big band, folklorico company, stage company, and mariachi academy all united under Alamo City Arts.
Kathleen teases me that I’ve developed a habit of “collecting arts nonprofits,” but I see it differently. Each partnership strengthens the others. By bringing together symphony, dance, theater, folklorico, mariachi, and band under one umbrella, we’re not just surviving we’re building a coalition. Together, we’re stronger, and together, we’re creating more opportunities for artists and audiences across San Antonio.
That unity has allowed us to provide entertainment for some of San Antonio’s biggest events the Ford Holiday River Parade, IPW, Holidays on Houston Street, NCAA, and Make Music San Antonio at the Botanical Gardens, just to name a few.
Every year, through performances, education, and community outreach, we reach more than 65,000 people across Bexar County. And that number is growing. Our goal is to keep breaking down barriers so that more people, from every walk of life, can experience the transformative power of the arts
Tell us about the organization today. It seems to have various groups and other organizations under its umbrella. Are these other organizations just renting space?
No, they are not renters. We are one organization with one tax ID and as Kathleen jokes, one checkbook, Alamo City Arts. Each ensemble is a division of our nonprofit, united under the same mission: making the arts accessible, inclusive, and transformative for the San Antonio community.
These groups aren’t separate entities leasing space; they are true collaborators who bring their artistry and leadership to our shared vision. Together we represent dance, symphony, folklorico, mariachi, theater, concert band, and big band, creating a multidisciplinary home for the arts.
We are fortunate to be guided by an exceptional team of directors: Dr. Joseph Kneer, Dr. Mark Rogers, Pat Authement, Shawn Kjos, and Aaron Rios. Most recently, we welcomed Brendan Speltz as concertmaster for Alamo City Symphony Viva, and we look forward to bringing in additional talented leaders as resources allow.
Many people are surprised to find out that there’s “another” symphony orchestra in San Antonio.
That’s true many people don’t realize San Antonio has another symphony orchestra. Ours is Symphony Viva. It was first formed in 2016 as a fundraiser following the Pulse Nightclub tragedy. The musicians wanted to keep playing together, and in 2018 we officially welcomed them into Alamo City Arts.
Today, Symphony Viva not only performs its own concert season but also provides live music for all of our ballet productions something that truly sets us apart from many companies. And if you frequent live music around the city, you’ll likely recognize some of our players. Many of them also perform with San Antonio’s larger, more established ensembles, so audiences often see familiar faces on our stage.
A number of academies and companies are listed on your website. Explain the relationship.
All of the academies, companies, and ensembles listed on our website are part of one organization: Alamo City Arts. We operate under a single EIN number and one checkbook. These are not rentals or loose partnerships they are true mergers and divisions of our nonprofit. Alamo City Arts is fiscally responsible for all of them, which gives us both unity and strength.
Our Academy provides dance and music training for students of all ages and abilities in a safe, inclusive environment. From the Academy grew our professional and semi-professional companies the Dance Company, Ballet Folklorico, Stage Company, and Mariachi Academy. Alongside them are our music ensembles: Symphony Viva, the Heart of Texas Concert Band, and Memory Lane Dance Band.
Together, these groups form San Antonio’s most vibrant multidisciplinary arts ecosystem. Each ensemble and company contributes to the same mission: to make the arts accessible, inclusive, and transformative for our community.
What are your current goals for Alamo City Arts?
Our biggest priority right now is expanding Arts Connect, our education and community outreach initiative.
Arts Connect is about taking the arts directly into schools and communities. This year we’ll present 22 Student Performance Series concerts across Bexar and Guadalupe Counties. These are TEKS-aligned and completely free to the schools. They include mariachi and folklorico in November, concert band in January, the symphony in February through the San Antonio Symphony League’s Paint to Music program, and a ballet with live orchestra in the spring.
But Arts Connect doesn’t stop there. We also run afterschool dance programs in Title I schools, where students get weekly classes in a safe, supportive environment. For many children, this is their first real exposure to dance, and it helps them build discipline, confidence, and creativity.
Another key part of Arts Connect is our ticket donation program. We set aside about 20% of our tickets and give them to other nonprofit organizations, ensuring that families who might not otherwise be able to attend can still experience the arts. For us, cost should never be a barrier. This way, live music, dance, and theater are accessible to everyone in our community.
And one of the programs I’m most proud of is our Sensory Friendly Nutcracker. It’s truly inclusive we pair our dancers with performers who have intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). They rehearse and perform together, and when the curtain goes up, the IDD dancers are not just participating, they’re starring. For families, it’s a moment of joy and pride. For our dancers, it’s transformative building empathy, friendship, and a deeper understanding of what inclusion really means.
So, for us, success isn’t just about great performances, it’s about making sure every child, every family, every community has access to the power of the arts.
I’m excited to share that Alamo City Arts has been selected to compete in MissionPitch, a contest hosted by Social Venture Partners, Geekdom, and the San Antonio Area Foundation. Over the next six weeks, we will work through training and coaching to develop a compelling pitch that tells our story and showcases the impact of our Arts Connect initiative.
On October 13th, we’ll take the stage alongside four other incredible nonprofits to present our pitch to the community. The funds we raise that night will go directly to supporting Arts Connect from bringing live performances into Title I schools, to afterschool dance programs, to our military appreciation performances, to our inclusive Sensory Friendly Nutcracker.
I would love for your readers to come out, be part of the energy, and support this work. It’s more than a contest it’s a chance to invest in the future of the arts in San Antonio.”
There’s a reference to “members” on your site. Please explain.
Our members are supporters who help fund our work through annual contributions. Membership isn’t just about financial support, it’s about belonging. It connects people directly to our mission and helps sustain programs like our Arts Connect Series, which brings free performances and classes to schools, military families, seniors, and underserved communities.
It’s also one of the ways we diversify our funding so we can keep ticket prices affordable and expand our outreach. And of course, we hope many of your readers will not only become members but also join us in the audience for our productions. Membership is really about being part of the Alamo City Arts family.
What are you most looking forward to?
I’m most excited about the moments where all of these branches come together. When our dancers are on stage with live music from our symphony, concert band, or mariachi, it’s something truly unique, the kind of collaboration that only happens at Alamo City Arts.
And I’m looking forward to growing Arts Connect. I believe the future of San Antonio’s cultural life depends on making sure every child has access to the arts. If we can give them that experience the spark, the confidence, the joy we’re not just building audiences, we’re building stronger communities for generations to come. Arts connects our community.
I invite your readers to come connect with us this season, experience the power of live performance, and be part of this journey with us. Learn more at alamocityarts.org