San Antonio Symphony Mastersingers
The San Antonio Symphony Mastersingers is the official chorus of the San Antonio Symphony. The Mastersingers is a highly acclaimed, 120-voice chorus of volunteers from throughout the San Antonio area. Max Reiter, founding Music Director of the San Antonio Symphony, established the chorus in 1944 to support opera productions presented by the Symphony. Today’s Mastersingers are featured in every area of the Symphony’s performance schedule. The chorus also presents independent performances. Dr. John Silantien is the director.
The Mastersingers have a reputation for meticulous preparation and professionalism that has brought the group frequent invitations for tours and guest appearances. In 1994, the Mastersingers traveled to Carnegie Hall to present the New York premiere of Robert Levin’s edition of the Mozart Requiem. This appearance of the chorus at Carnegie Hall received the same critical acclaim as their performances throughout Texas, in Monterrey, Mexico, in New York’s Avery Fisher Hall, and in the Royal Festival Hall, London. In May 2008, the chorus performed Mozart’s Solemn Vespers at Carnegie Hall, John Silantien conducting. Later that same year, they were invited to perform a concert version of Cavalleria rusticana, with Andrea Bocelli in the starring role. The chorus has performed under some of the world’s leading music directors—Zdenek Macal, Jahja Ling, Sixten Ehrling, Nicholas McGegan, Christopher Hogwood, and others.
In the summer of 2013 the Mastersingers, together with student singers from the University of Texas at San Antonio, toured major concert venues in Italy, highlighted by performances at the Vatican in Rome and the Basilica of San Marco in Venice. In June 2015, the Mastersingers returned to Europe to perform in Lisbon, Seville, Madrid, and Granada, where they were featured at the Granada International Festival of Music and Dance. On Memorial Day, 2016, the chorus once again performed at Carnegie Hall, presenting the New York City debut of Robert Cohen’s Alzheimer’s Stories.
In 1994, then San Antonio Mayor Nelson Wolff proclaimed the Mastersingers “one of the crown jewels within the San Antonio Arts community.” In addition to performances with the San Antonio Symphony, they present several other concerts annually in San Antonio and surrounding communities. 2016–2017 marks the 73rd season of the San Antonio Symphony Mastersingers.
The Mastersingers’ mission is to provide their community with life-enriching experiences through performances that engage the audience, challenge the singers, raise funds for worthy charities, and provide inspirational, educational, and moving musical opportunities for concert-goers.
Dr. John Silantien, San Antonio Symphony Mastersingers conductor
San Antonio Symphony Mastersingers conductor Dr. John Silantien has taught and conducted choirs on the secondary and 
collegiate levels in Texas, the Washington, D.C. area, and on the faculty of the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York.
He holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Illinois. His awards include a Rockefeller grant for choral conducting at Aspen, Colorado, and a Fulbright award for research in London, England. Dr. Silantien presently serves as Director of Choral Activities at the University of Texas at San Antonio, Director of the San Antonio Symphony Mastersingers, and Director of Choral Music at University Presbyterian Church.
Dr. Silantien’s orchestral conducting credits include performances with the San Antonio Symphony, the San Antonio Pops, and New York’s West Side Chamber Orchestra, as well as CD recordings of three Mozart piano concertos with the Moscow State Radio Orchestra. He made his Carnegie Hall debut in May 1994 conducting Mozart’s Requiem, returning in 2008 for a performance of Mozart’s Vespers. In May 2016, he conducted the Mastersingers in the Carnegie Hall premiere of Robert Cohen’s Alzheimer’s Stories.
IRMA TAUTE SCHOLARSHIP
Instituted in the 2010-2011 season and continuing each season thereafter, the San Antonio Symphony Mastersingers have awarded a $600 need-based scholarship to a high school-aged member of The Children’s Chorus of San Antonio. The scholarship is named in honor of longtime Mastersingers member and former Board Chair Irma Taute. Mrs. Taute served as Associate Director of the Children’s Chorus from 1996-2015 and conducted the high school choir from which scholarship recipients are chosen.
The Irma Taute Scholarship supports the work of The Children’s Chorus of San Antonio who are frequent collaborators with the Mastersingers in concerts such as this season’s Carmina Burana with the San Antonio Symphony.
How can you help?
Please consider supporting this important scholarship fund. The Mastersingers will have a table set up in the lobby to accept contributions.
