More discord is roiling San Antonio’s classical music scene.
Days before the public debut of the city’s newest orchestra, the Harmonium of Texas, the turmoil-wracked San Antonio Philharmonic has sued the fledgling group in federal court, accusing its leader of fraud.
Filed Tuesday, the lawsuit against the Harmonium of Texas and its founder, Jeffrey Kahane, accuses the conductor, pianist and educator of misleading the Philharmonic’s leadership when he resigned in February, midway through a three-year contract as musical director.
The petition alleges Kahane stole “trade secrets” during his time at the Phil, including the nonprofit’s donor and email marketing lists, which he used to build support for the Harmonium and do irreparable harm to his previous employer.
Neither Kahane nor the Harmonium of Texas, which will undertake its debut performance this Friday at the Lila Cockrell Theatre, were available for immediate comment.
Kahane — who described himself in an earlier statement as a “significant donor” to the Phil — parted ways after it was locked out of its primary performance venue, downtown’s Scottish Rite Cathedral, and the orchestra canceled a string of concert dates.
The Scottish Rite’s owners accuse the Phil, which arose from the ashes of the failed San Antonio Symphony, of failing to make repairs to the building it promised to bankroll. Both the venue and the orchestra remain locked in a court fight.
Tuesday’s suit accuses Kahane of fabricating a story that he was forced to resign from the Phil to return to full-time teaching at the University of Southern California (USC) — a move that allegedly cleared him to begin laying the foundation for a competing orchestra.
“If the Philharmonic had known Kahane had been able to retain his tenure with USC and still perform his duties, the Philharmonic would not have entered into the termination agreement,” the petition states.
In a statement to the Current, Philharmonic CEO Roberto Treviño said the orchestra sued Kahane to “protect our rights and interests.”
“The facts set forth in the complaint speak for themselves,” he added. “We will allow the judicial process to take its course.”
Harmonium’s concert this weekend, a performance of Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana featuring guest violinist Tessa Lark, is start of a season scheduled to include roughly 20 performances through June 6.
Although the Philharmonic has yet to unveil a 2026-2027 concert season, Treviño told the current via text that the organization is preparing to announce details about upcoming performances “as we confirm our financial support for the year.”
In August, the Phil agreed to pay a total of $232,000 to settle lawsuits from former backers and members who had disputes with the orchestra. The largest amount went to settle a claim filed by a married couple who accused management of failing to honor terms of $180,000 in loans the pair extended to fund the orchestra’s operations.
In a statement to the Current at the time, Treviño said the settlement “isn’t impacting our season in a significant way.”
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