San Antonio Symphony terminates contract with music director emeritus Sebastian Lang-Lessing

The San Antonio Symphony board terminated its contract with Music Director Emeritus Sebastian Lang-Lessing on Friday, cutting ties after 12 with the man who had been the public face of the orchestra — and its staunchest advocate. The dismissal of Lang-Lessing, an internationally renowned conductor whose tenure coincided with the opening of the symphony’s new home in the Tobin Center for the Performing Arts, is the latest turn in more than six months of discord between the musicians and management. Ten concerts have been canceled and five postponed. Musicians are on strike and have lost their health insurance and other benefits, and both sides have filed charges with the National Labor Relations board.

Lang-Lessing’s firing came after it was announced that he would conduct a pair of concerts May 12 and 13 by the striking musicians of the San Antonio Symphony at First Baptist Church. The concerts are part of a series being presented by the recently formed nonprofit MOSAS (Musicians of the San Antonio Symphony) Performance Fund independent of the San Antonio Symphony. Lang-Lessing was scheduled to conduct two of the three classics series concerts remaining on the San Antonio Symphony’s 2021-22 season. One of those concerts is on May 13, the same date as a concert by the striking musicians. Corey Cowart, executive director of the San Antonio Symphony, said Lang-Lessing’s decision to conduct those MOSAS concerts violated a “radius clause” in his contract with the symphony. According to a letter Cowart sent on Friday to symphony board members and staff, the symphony’s standard contract for guest artists like Lang-Lessing states that “Artists shall neither make nor announce any appearances in San Antonio, Texas within 60 days prior to or following the performance dates of the concerts.”