As the Classical Music Institute (CMI) begins its annual series of summer workshops and public concerts — rebranded last year as the CMI 210 Festival — the nonprofit resident company of the Tobin Center for the Performing Arts has received a significant boost.
Frost Bank has granted CMI and its new performance group, The Orchestra San Antonio (TOSA), a $2 million sponsorship to continue its hybrid performance and education programming.
CMI President and CEO Paul Montalvo said the sponsorship is intended to be disbursed from the current 2024-2025 season through the 2029-2030 season, as long as milestones of sustainable growth, audience building and educational programming are met.
“It is a special gift, but we’re not entitled to anything,” Montalvo said during a Wednesday festival preview event for members of the media. “We have to prove ourselves every year.”
Education in ascent
CMI started as the Chamber Orchestra San Antonio when the Tobin Center opened in 2014, under the artistic directorship of Montalvo, a retired firefighter. The group rebranded as the Classical Music Institute in 2016 to further its educational mission, running an annual summer program for Bexar County youths.
Recent expansions to the program include the Ascend after-school program, which incorporates tenets of the El Sistema public music education program in Venezuela, focused on individual and social development as well as musical excellence.
That focus on combining performance with education is what attracted Frost Bank’s sponsorship, said CEO Phil Green in a news release. “Not only will our community be provided with outstanding classical music performance, but the lives of students will be forever changed through the unique educational engagement TOSA provides,” Green said.
In the same news release, Montalvo said, “It’s a historic day for CMI,” citing the sponsorship as the largest single-donor gift in his organization’s 10-year history. “We are honored by this amazing gift and Frost Bank’s trust in CMI’s mission of performance serving education.”
At the Wednesday media event, Montalvo said the Frost gift will help CMI “go out and raise more money. … When you have a company like that organization that believes in what we’re doing, it says a lot of things.”
For seniors and kids
The education and performance-focused CMI 210 Festival begins Saturday with the Golden Age Concert Tour, the first in a series of visits to senior living facilities organized in concert with Musical Bridges Around the World.
The Saturday 10 a.m. free community concert will take place at the Village at Incarnate Word, followed by a 2 p.m. concert at Blue Skies of Texas East. The tour continues June 15 with a 10:30 a.m. concert at the Army Residence Community and a 2 p.m. concert at Blue Skies of Texas West.
The vocal component of this year’s festival opens Sunday at 3 p.m. with a master class conducted by Opera San Antonio (OSA) musical director Francisco Milioto at the Radius Center. CMI voice fellowship students will perform at 7 p.m. on June 12 at the Mexican Cultural Institute.
The Explore Opera for Kids! community concert series starts at 10:30 a.m. on June 15 at the Igo Library, followed by a 2 p.m. concert at the McCreless Library. The series continues at 5 p.m. on June 18 at the Pan American Library, 10:30 a.m. on June 21 at the Parman Library at Stone Oak and on June 22 at 10:30 a.m. at the Memorial Library.
Six ticketed TOSA concerts held at the Carlos Alvarez Studio Theater in the Tobin Center begin June 13 with California Suite, a program of works by living composers including Terry Riley and soundtrack composer Danny Elfman.
The Anna and Her Sisters concert is on June 14, Flying Over the Cuckoo’s Nest Into the Serenity Now is on June 15, Concert(Master) and Commander featuring CMI artistic advisor and concertmaster Francisco Fullana takes place on June 17, Thermal, Louise, and Fellows is on June 19 and The Concert That Gives Thanks closes the series on June 20.
The concert titles all refer to significant cultural moments from Montalvo’s past and function as the former artist director’s swan song in that role as he leads CMI and TOSA into their future.
There’s more
CMI 210 Festival students are showcased at the Mexican Cultural Institute on June 18 in the OSA-CMI Young Artist Program ¡Cantemos Zarzuela! Young Artist Showcase, the Student Concert June 21 at Edgewood Theatre of Performing Arts and the culminating Festival Finale on June 22.
But even after the finale, the festival concludes outside of San Antonio with a South Texas Tour of CMI apprentice artists June 24-26. The first concert will be 1 p.m. June 24 at the Progreso Library in Uvalde, followed by Opera on the Border June 25 at the San Agustín in Laredo and a June 26 community concert at the Art Center of Corpus Christi.
The full festival schedule with more information and ticket links is available on the CMI website.
Disclosure: Frost Bank is a financial supporter of the San Antonio Report. For a full list of business members, click here.
