Arts Alive San Antonio

By JASMINA WELLINGHOFF, Editor

Back in 1901 a lady named Anna Hertzberg, who was a graduate of the New York Conservatory of Music, found herself in San Antonio, then a frontier town with hardly any arts and cultural institutions. So, in the best American tradition, she decided to do something about it. She found a few kindred souls – all women – and before long they were performing together and talking about classical music.

Today, more than a century since Mrs. Hertzberg founded the Tuesday Musical Club, other music-loving women are carrying-on the tradition of presenting music to the community, although the format has changed somewhat. While the 2023 women who belong to the organization, are often musicians themselves, they are now best known as sponsors of an annual concert series – The Artist Series – that features distinguished top musicians from around the U.S. and the world.

Over the years, the Artist Series has featured high-caliber musicians such as Isaac Stern, Leonard Rose, Angelika Kirchschlager, Chanticleer, Joshua Bell, Nathan Gunn, Stephen Hough, Olga Kern, Lawrence Brownlee, and many others.

“One of the fascinating things I found in our archives about the invited guest artists, is that these ladies who were choosing the musicians to invite, were extremely progressive minds, musically speaking,“ said TMC’s member Deborah Case Moore, who is currently serving as the TMC Artist Series Centennial Season co-chair. “For instance, in 1942 TMC presented the Von Trapp family, the famous family whose fate and escape from the Nazis was told in the musical ‘The Sound of Music.’ They also presented music ensembles that were not the norm of how to present classical music at that time. For example, they invited a large all-female mandolin ensemble. And they also invited musicians of color and of different ethnicities at the time when people did not expect to see them on the stage.”

Though today, the club is best known as a presenter of concerts, it has not fully abandoned the practice of the founders of having club members themselves playing for the public.

 “We still perform,” said Kathleen Amen, the current president of the organization. “In fact, there are three performing groups: the Choir, the String Ensemble and piano duos. In the past, there was also a dance company. I sing with the club’s choir.”

“So, we have a dual purpose as an organization,” she explained. “We are interested in people who want to listen to music, appreciate the music, but we also want to provide opportunities for our club members to perform. We have a Christmas Concert that they all participate in, and each group has individual concerts throughout the year. Plus, we have programs that often feature a club member – in addition to outside experts – who perform and speak about music. For instance, we had an opera-focused talk and we had a tango presentation for the members which was also open to the public.”

In addition to the Artist Series and member concerts, TMC has two other separate programs for young artists:  Junior TMC and the Young Artists Competition.

The Junior TMC gives young people in grades 1-12 an appreciation of the beauty of music. The young crowd has its own monthly meetings that include performances and learning from each other. The third program – Young Artists Competition – has been held since 1956 for college-level music students who live in Texas.  Winners receive $10,000+ cash prizes. The 2023 competition was for string instrumentalists. The 2024 one will be for pianists in March next year.

But the focus right now is on the centennial celebration and the centennial Artist Series. Moore, who has served on the Artist Series Booking Committee for seven years, said that the committee started looking at artists for the centennial season back in 2018.

“Rather than introducing artists new to the international stage, it was decided we wanted to bring four of the artists/ensembles that we had previously presented, and who had become world class musicians, offering exceptional performances,” she said.

 So, the committee focused on the artists who had performed for TMC within the last two decades. While the list was extensive, they picked four artists that they felt represented “an exciting mix of talent and experience,” who will honor the club’s performing history.

All four were happy to return to San Antonio for this historic season. The returning artists include the Eroica Trio, which performed here twice before – in 1993 and again in 2006. Not only are the three members of the trio excellent musicians, the committee liked that it was an all-female ensemble, as TMC is an all-female organization. The trio will, in fact, open the new season.

So, what is Moore most looking forward to this season?

“As a member of TMC since 1983, and having spent my adult life in San Antonio, I am looking forward to experiencing the combination of celebrating an historic milestone through live music with exceptional artists,” she said. “I find music to be a language that speaks to us in a very unique way, in any place we might find ourselves in life. It is solace and food for the soul.”
—————————————————————————————————————–

                                                         Centennial Season Concerts

The Eroica Trio, (Erika Nickrenz. Piano; Sara Parkins, violin; Sara Sant’Ambrogio, cello) (Oct. 24, 2023, at 7 p.m.; Temple Beth-El, 211 Belknap Place.)

Olga Kern and son Vladislav Kern, piano duo (Nov. 28, 2023 at 7 p.m.; Trinity Baptist Church, 319 E. Mulberry Ave.)

Nathan Laube, organist (Feb. 6, 2024 at 7 p.m.Margarite B. Parker Chapel, Trinity University.)

Lawrence Brownlee, tenor (March 5, 2024 at 2 p.m.; Laurel Heights United Methodist Church, 227 W. Woodlawn Ave.)

You can subscribe for the season at https://satmc.org or by phone 210-454-795; $100 and you also get a bonus ticket with each subscription; Single concert tickets are $30. All concerts occur on Tuesday, last 90 minutes to two hours.