Texas’s Tobin Center Announces Resident Symphony

The Orchestra of San Antonio will assume the residency alongside other companies including OPERA San Antonio

The Orchestra San Antonio (TOSA) has now joined the Tobin Center for the Performing Arts as its new resident symphony orchestra. In the role, the orchestra will work closely with other resident companies including OPERA San Antonio and Ballet San Antonio. 

Formed under the Classical Music Institute (CMI) — a resident company of the Tobin Center since 2014 — TOSA serves the San Antonio community through performance, education, and collaboration.  

As explained by TOSA’s CEO Paul Montalvo in the press release, he co-founded the Chamber Orchestra San Antonio in 2008, which later formed its educational program, the CMI. He is currently building up TOSA for its first concert season. 

“Their programming at their concerts has been really fascinating,” Former San Antonio Express-News critic Mike Greenberg said of the Chamber Orchestra San Antonio. “A lot of contemporary music. There’s quite a lot of music by women composers.”

Still in its early planning stages, TOSA’s first performances are scheduled for next spring, with the season’s details to be announced in July. 

“We’re starting small. This year [our budget is] at around $2.1 million, and next year we’re looking at about $2.5 million,” Montalvo said. “The goal would be to grow that [to] $6 and 7 million [between 2030 and 2032] … we’re building very slow, making sure that what we do build upon is sustainable.”

Opening in 2014, the Tobin Center comprises three main venues: the H-E-B Performance Hall, which seats over 2000; the smaller 300-seat black box studio theater, the Carlos Alvarez Studio Theater; and the Will Naylor Smith River Walk Plaza, which is often used for concerts, cinema nights, fitness events, film festivals, and receptions.