December 15, 2010 “Strange Frenzy,” a provocative new chamber work by San Antonio composer Jack Stamps, capped an afternoon of extraordinary performances on the Musical Bridges Around the World concert series, Dec. 12 in McAllister Auditorium. The concert brought together two touring duos of very different character. Cellist Wendy Warner and pianist Irina Nuzova comprised one pair, representing the European classical tradition. Violist Kathryn Lockwood and percussionist Yousif Sheronick (wife and husband) were the other pair, representing a wide swath of folk traditions from the Mediterranean and Eastern Europe to the Middle East and...

December 13, 2010 Composer Jack W. Stamps seeks to “reconcile” Eastern and Western musical forms. He is insistent on the word “reconcile,” I think, out of respect for how various cultures musically express themselves in different ways. He acknowledges the history of Western exoticism of Eastern forms, yet works to weave multiple sounds into a rich, conversational and contemporary soundscape, citing an array of rhythms and instrumental voices. Read Full...

January 19, 2011 Russian pianist Lilya Zilberstein was not surprised when she ran into Anya Grokhovski, an old friend and one-time Moscow classmate, in San Antonio 10 years ago. For one thing, she had been told that Grokhovski had moved here. For another, Zilberstein, an internationally acclaimed soloist, runs into her countrymen all the time. Read Full...

Febuary 20, 2011 Acclaimed New Orleans-born jazz trumpeter Nicholas Payton led his Nicholas Payton Sexxxtet at McAllister Auditorium on the San Antonio College campus on Sunday afternoon. The concert was part of the diverse Musical Bridges Around the World series, now in its 13th season. Read Full...

There had to have been many who didn’t know what to expect on Sunday, February 20, when they entered the McAllister Auditorium on the campus of San Antonio College. The theater was the setting for another concert in the ongoing Musical Bridges Around the World series, now thirteen years running, but Sunday afternoon’s Nicholas Payton Sexxxtet concert was the only jazz show of the series this year and it was certainly something special. Read Full...