The Society was founded in 1943 by Dr. Eric Sorantin, an accomplished Viennese musician who arrived in San Antonio in the early 1930s. Holding PhD degrees from the University of Vienna and Vanderbilt University, he toured Europe and South America as well as the U.S. He became active with several local performing groups, began to teach at universities, and founded the San Angelo Symphony Orchestra.
Perhaps Sorantin's greatest accomplishment was the establishment of the San Antonio Chamber Music Society in 1943. He gathered together a nucleus of prominent music lovers to launch the Society. The first concerts were held in the West Wing of the Municipal Auditorium. Founding members provided oriental rugs and other furnishings to create the proper setting for the programs. Guest artists quickly grew from local to regional to national and international in prominence. Over the past seventy plus years the Society has presented the premier ensembles of the 20th century. Legendary names such as the Budapest, Hungarian, Paganini, Borodin, Amadeus, Juilliard and Guarneri String Quartets appear across more than a half-century of programs. Often the Society introduced rising young ensembles, early in their careers, such as the Quartetto Italiano, Alban Berg String Quartet and Tokyo String Quartet. Our objective remains discovery emerging artists who will become tomorrow's stars. Looking to the future, we plan to continue our commitment to present the finest ensembles on the world scene today. An important mission is to offer educational programs by arranging master classes given by visiting artists and through providing free admission to our concerts for students. Our concerts are recorded for later broadcast on local FM station KPAC and National Public Radio's Performance Today.
