The Orchestra San Antonio to play inaugural concert

Leonardo Pineda The Orchestra San Antonio

Principal conductor Leonardo Pineda will lead the inaugural concert. Photo courtesy of the Orchestra San Antonio

It isn't every day — or even every century — that people get to hear an orchestra's inaugural performance in their own city. The Orchestra San Antonio (TOSA) is making its debut on Saturday, March 29, at the Tobin Center’s H-E-B Performance Hall.

Things are different in San Antonio, where orchestras have been coming and going with surprising frequency. Following an 83-year history and a nine-month strike, the Symphony Society of San Antonio declared bankruptcy and dissolved in 2022. The San Antonio Philharmonic was waiting in the wings to immediately take its place, and it just moved into a new venue, the Scottish Rite Auditorium, making its debut there early this February.

Now another new orchestra is joining the mix. TOSA, formerly the Classical Music Institute Orchestra, is presenting itself as a new group while continuing to operate under the Classical Music Institute, which resides at the Tobin Center.

"Established as a resident orchestra of the Tobin Center for the Performing Arts, TOSA is dedicated to presenting a dynamic range of artistic programming and community engagement efforts that highlight its commitment to innovation, education, and the arts," says a mission statement provided in a press release announcing the debut concert.

The first concert, called Echoes in Diversion, will present classical, Spanish, and Latin American music under the direction of Venezuelan principal conductor Leonardo Pineda. It will also feature two Venezuelan soloists: trumpetist Pacho Flores and mezzo-soprano Zaireth Pérez. This is the first time either soloist will play in San Antonio.

The program is as follows:

Manuel de Falla — The Three-Cornered Hat, Suite 1: An excerpt from a 1919 Spanish ballet
Arturo Márquez — Concierto de Otoño: A 2018 trumpet concierto by a Mexican composer
Aldemaro Romero — Fuga con Pajarillo: A 1990 fugue that gained famous Venezuelan conductor Gustavo Dudamel early-career international attention in 2004
Astor Piazzolla — Tangazo: Variations on Buenos Aires: A 1969 piece by an Argentine nuevo tango trailblazer
Juan Pablo Contreras — Mariachitlán: A Mexican composer's 2022 homage to his home state of Jalisco, where mariachi originated

Flores will also pay a visit to students at Ronald Reagan High School, where he'll give a special presentation and masterclass. He'll also bring his collection of Stomvi trumpets, which are made in Valencia, Spain.

Tickets ($15-69) for the inaugural TOSA concert Echoes in Diversion are available at tobincenter.org. The performance starts at 7:30 pm.

music concerts classical music latino culture

Friends of Sound, record store, San Antonio, Gimme Gimme Bar.

Friends of Sound record store has opened a second San Antonio location at 803 S. St. Mary's St., in a space next to Gimme Gimme Bar. Photo by Edmond Ortiz

Visitors to the Southtown bar Gimme Gimme can now drift over to an adjacent space where they can dig for vintage vinyl records to their heart’s content.

The owners of Gimme Gimme have transformed their next door wine bar concept, A Perfect Day, into a second location for Friends of Sound, a store that sells, buys and trades used records.

Friends of Sound founder David Haffner hosted a grand opening party on March 7, including DJs spinning records all day and night.

Bar co-owner Aaron Pena recalls having coffee one day last year on Fredericksburg Road near where the team at Friends of Sound was busy relocating their neighborhood shop.

“I’ve known Friends of Sound since The Squeezebox days,” says Pena, referring to the bar and live music space he owned on North St. Mary’s Street for seven years until he closed it in 2024. “I’ve had a rapport with them.”

Pena says he and his business partners mulled the idea of converting A Perfect Day, the wine bar that opened alongside Gimme Gimme, a musically inspired bar, in summer 2023.

At the same time, Haffner and his partners were looking around San Antonio for a potential second location of Friends of Sound. Pena and Haffner got to talking and the rest is history.

Friends of Sound in Southtown is accessible from South St. Mary’s Street, but during Gimme Gimme’s business hours, bar patrons can simply enter the record store via a back hallway.

“There’s not a bar in San Antonio that has a record store in it,” says Pena. He also adds that he has heard lots of good feedback from customers who have visited the new neighbor. “Friends of Sound already has a following, but there are people in the bar who don’t realize there’s a record store now. It’s a cool surprise for them as they wander inside."

Haffner calls the Southtown location of Friends of Sound “a natural fit” because an independent record shop can help complement the surrounding neighborhood. Visitors to the record store, Haffner says, can hang out and socialize in addition to listening to music and doing business there.

“It’s literally a community hub because we try to form a community around the store,” says Haffner.

According to Haffner, Friends of Sound in Southtown will install a high-fidelity audio system later this spring to better accommodate presentations, poetry readings, and other activities inside the store.

Haffner says he has opened several stores and businesses over a couple of decades, and he feels like he has a firm grasp on what will bring in customers and keep them coming back.

“I feel like we’re honing in on what works and what doesn’t work,” he adds. “But for the new store, the feedback has been amazing.”

friends of sound san antonio record store gimme gimme bar

Inaugural Concert

Orchestra San Antonio to debut with Latin-American, Spanish program

Inaugural Concert

Orchestra San Antonio to debut with Latin-American, Spanish program

Hey Mr. DJ

Record shop brings sweet sounds into San Antonio bar space

Hey Mr. DJ

Record shop brings sweet sounds into San Antonio bar space