The South Texas Symphonic Orchestra will be performing its first concert of the season Sunday, Oct. 9 at 3 p.m. at the Lila Cockrell Auditorium. The concert is celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Texas Country Reporter, the longest-running independently produced syndicated show on television.
Conducted by Jefferson High School Fine Arts Chair Dr. Ronnie Sanders, the South Texas Symphonic Orchestra was founded in 2017 and features more than 60 professionally trained musicians who volunteer their time to bring music to the community.
Sanders, who has been at Jefferson for 17 years, said the group started as a wild idea to create a volunteer community orchestra for adults who just wanted to play.
“What would happen if we asked people trained in music to perform and we didn’t pay anyone a nickel?” Sanders said. “I thought we’d have 25-30 players. In September 2017, we had 62 players in the orchestra. It was a need that was untapped.”
The group typically offers at least five concerts per year, including at the San Antonio Youth Ballet’s performance of the Nutcracker, and children’s concerts in February.
“Every year, even during COVID, we brought free, full orchestral community concerts into schools across the San Antonio area,” Sanders said. “We used Zoom to bring access to 14,000 students and teachers all across Texas last year.”
Sanders, who grew up in the Jefferson feeder pattern, also attending Arnold Elementary and Whittier Middle School, studied at the Juilliard School in New York city and holds a master’s degree in conducting from the University of Houston and a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from Boston University.
His work at Jefferson and with the South Texas Symphonic Orchestra both aim to share the possibility of music performance in students.
“I wanted to give back and inspire the students to do what I did,” Sanders said.
For tickets to the Texas Country Reporter concert, visit Ticketmaster at https://www.ticketmaster.com/event/3A005C32B2762739