SAN ANTONIO – September has been a mixed bag for the San Antonio Philharmonic.
The nonprofit, which was born from the ashes of the San Antonio Symphony in 2022 with some of the same musicians, saw the City of San Antonio and Bexar County set aside a combined $411,000 for its benefit.
But shortly before the city approved its budget this week, a former board member and his wife sued the philharmonic over what they characterized as $180,000 in defaulted loans. The couple is demanding repayment, including interest and attorney’s fees.
San Antonio Philharmonic Executive Director Roberto Treviño denied the lawsuit’s allegations in an interview with KSAT and said the orchestra’s attorney “is aware of this and will respond appropriately.”
“MY MONEY IS SIMPLY GONE”
The lawsuit, which was filed Tuesday in Bexar County District Court, came after David Wood had already written to Bexar County Commissioners and San Antonio City Council members ahead of their respective budget votes. Wood asked city and county leaders to hold off on providing the philharmonic any taxpayer money “until the organization is once again legally structured, with a duly elected Board of Directors, and after a full audit of its finances.”
Wood wrote in his emails that he and his wife, Colette Holt, “have supported the organization to the tune of nearly a quarter of a million dollars,” including buying the San Antonio Symphony’s assets out of bankruptcy and donating them to the new San Antonio Philharmonic.
However, Wood said after he agreed to an interest-free $45,000 loan in June for an orchestra shell — a surface that reflects sound toward the audience — Treviño “unilaterally stopped responding to Board members, disabled all their email accounts and removed their names from the Philharmonic’s website.”
Wood said he’d seen no evidence his money was used for that purpose and said he has had no response from anyone at the philharmonic or received answers from Treviño’s attorney.
“My money is simply gone,” Wood wrote in his emails to commissioners and council members on Sept. 8 and Sept. 11, respectively.
The couple said in their lawsuit that they have demanded the San Antonio Philharmonic pay back the loan immediately.
The lawsuit also covers a $150,000 forgivable loan from Sept. 2022, which was secured with the orchestra’s instruments and the music library as collateral.
As long the philharmonic remains in business as an orchestra, Wood and Holt would forgive $15,000 every year under the terms of the loan.
However, Wood and Holt’s lawsuit claims the philharmonic is no longer in business as an orchestra, has ceased to provide live concerts and the instruments and music library had not been properly insured.
The lawsuit said the couple demanded payment on the $135,000 remaining on the loan’s principal on Aug. 15 as well as 18% interest, which is still accruing.
“We hope that we can settle this quickly and amicably and ensure that the assets remain here and available for musicians throughout the community,” Holt said in a phone interview with KSAT on Friday.
Wood is not listed on the philharmonic’s website. Holt said there “is a lot of disagreement” about both the board’s membership and governance.
“So, I think that’s an open question about who is still on the board,” Holt said.
“COMPLETELY FALSE”
In an interview with KSAT on Friday, Treviño denied the accusations in Wood’s emails and the lawsuit.
“All I can say is the allegations are completely false. They’re inaccurate,” Treviño said.
Treviño, who is also a former District 1 councilman, said he had been an inaugural member of the San Antonio Philharmonic board before he was asked to be its executive director in 2023.
Treviño said the organization does have a working board, but Wood had been voted off of it.
He also said the Philharmonic had, in fact, bought the orchestra shell. But he said $30,000 of what Wood described as a loan was actually a gift. The rest was to be paid back within the season.
Treviño said he believed the philharmonic’s attorney had responded to Wood about that loan and that “(Wood) did the entire transaction in a board meeting. So, that’s all I can say.”
He also said the orchestra is still operating with a concert taking place last weekend.
“All I can say is, you know, these allegations are completely false and unfortunate,” Treviño said.
“We’re here in business,” Treviño said later in the interview. “And again, we’re planning for a concert. And the rest of it, I think, it’s a legal matter that I think is going to have to be revealed in court.”
PUBLIC MONEY
Over the past month, the San Antonio Philharmonic has received up to $411,000 in earmarked city and county funding.
Bexar County included $300,000 for the Philharmonic in its 2025 fiscal year budget vote on Sept. 10. It’s the same amount the orchestra received from the county general fund in the 2024 fiscal year.
Precinct 4 Commissioner Tommy Calvert kicked in another $50,000 from his discretionary funding for outside agencies.
The City of San Antonio unanimously passed its budget Thursday with up to $111,055 of funding for the Philharmonic, depending on what the group’s past tax return looks like.
The vote came after City Attorney Andy Segovia confirmed to council members that they received a copy of the lawsuit.
City Manager Erik Walsh indicated the money won’t be doled out automatically.
“There’s money allocated,” Walsh told reporters after Thursday’s vote. “We’ll go through the process. It’s incumbent upon them to submit the proper forms to us.”
Throughout the budget process, six council members advocated — by varying degrees — for funding the philharmonic with as much as $400,000: Councilwoman Sukh Kaur (D1), Councilman Jalen McKee-Rodriguez (D2), Councilwoman Teri Castillo (D5), Councilman Manny Pelaez (D8), Councilman John Courage (D9) and Councilman Marc Whyte (D10).
KSAT reached out to all six on Friday for comment about the city’s support for the philharmonic given Wood and Holt’s lawsuit. Castillo was the only council member to comment, providing a text statement through a spokesman:
“During the City budget process, I advocated to support the musicians of the Philharmonic – the American Federation of Musicians, Local 23. Our symphony musicians deserve the support of the City of San Antonio, and my hope is that whatever legal disputes currently exist, that they are resolved in a timely manner so as not to impact the Philharmonic’s ability to continue to perform for San Antonio residents.”
Councilwoman Teri Castillo (D5)
KSAT also asked city and county spokespeople whether the allegations and lawsuit would affect how the budgeted money was distributed.
The city spokesman said there have been no adjustments to the city’s 2025 fiscal year budget since the council’s approval on Thursday.
The county spokesman said Bexar County is not a party in the lawsuit and “would not be impacted by the pending dispute.”