A front page Arts story in The New York Times [January 2025] featured the Philharmonic of San Antonio, perhaps a first for an orchestra from Texas. The story “After an Orchestra’s Rebirth, The Focus Turns to Thriving,” concluded with an optimistic observation from music director Jeffrey Kahane that San Antonio’s Philharmonic reorganization and new home in the Scottish Rite Hall will contribute to the “rebirth” of first-rate music performances in San Antonio.
If the San Antonio Philharmonic’s sold out presentation of “Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets” in concert last weekend [February 14-15] is any indication, the Philharmonic music organization is fully back on track. Harriett and I attended the Harry Potter concert as well as an earlier concert directed by Lina González-Granados, who is among the nation’s leading Latina classical music stars. The Philharmonic has been bringing such superstars to San Antonio.
Colombian-American Lina González-Granados has distinguished herself nationally and internationally as an extraordinarily talented young conductor. Praised for her “rich, heartfelt orchestral sound” (Chicago Sun-Times), “rhythmic vitality” (San Francisco Chronicle), and “raw power” (LA Times), she manages a demanding conducting schedule in major cities of the US, Latin American, and Europe. Music critics added that González-Granados’ dedication to highlighting new and unknown works by Latin-American composers has earned her international recognition, most recently as the recipient of the Sphinx Medal of Excellence. She is currently Resident Conductor at LA Opera and served as the Solti Conducting Apprentice with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. She is a popular visiting music director for the San Antonio Philharmonic.
González-Granados’ inspiring story of how she became one of the few Latinas to conduct major orchestras is worthy of recognition by lovers of all music genres. She came to the United States in her early twenties to study music, but also to escape from the daily dangers associated with the Colombian Civil War. The civil conflict started in 1964 and continues to this day. The cost of war has been extraordinarily high, with an estimated 220,000 killed and 25,000 disappeared. Gonzalez-Granados is one of the estimated nine million refugees or displaced people from Colombia living outside of their country.
The civil unrest González-Granados and her family witnessed pitted the government against guerilla groups [FARC, ELN], paramilitary organizations, and drug cartels, and disrupted all aspects of civil life. Nonetheless, she joined other young Colombians who managed to study the music they loved. The conflict impacted all regions of Columbia, but some cities, such as Cali and Bogota, were better capable of providing music and artistic programs for youths during the unrest. Harriett and I visited Bogota some years ago and attended a few music festivals. My only knowledge of Colombian music at the time was their world-wide cumbia music influence. Texas’s own Selena incorporated that cumbia beat into her songs. Several musicologists told me that Selena’s use of cumbia rhythms helped bridge Tejano music with Latin pop, significantly impacting the Latin music scene. The Philharmonic brought the Selena concert to the SA Majestic Theater in January 2025.
To many Latin musicians, Cali is known as the “Salsa Capital of the World.” As a young girl, Gonzalez-Granados joined a teen music group. Her biography notes that as a child she participated in a “tuna,” a traditional musical group where she learned to sing, dance, and play instruments such as guitar and castanets.
The González-Granados family strongly supported their daughter’s interest in music, including contracting classical piano lessons. Her family insisted that their daughter learn piano as a way to keep her “home and safe” during the protracted civil unrest. González-Granados’ biography refers to a rich cultural background from Cali that not only shaped her musical tastes but also her approach to conducting, which emphasizes community, diversity, and the physical connection between music and movement.
In 2010, Gonzalez-Granados moved from Cali to New York for an undergraduate exchange year at the prestigious Juilliard School marking the beginning of her international career. She studied at the New England Conservatory and earned her Doctorate of Musical Arts from Boston University. She is the founder of Unitas Ensemble, a chamber orchestra dedicated to performing works by Latin American composers. The group also provided free concerts to underserved communities. She credits her mother with influencing her learning of Colombian and Latin American music.
A New York Philharmonic newsletter recently recognized González-Granados for having “distinguished herself nationally and internationally through spectacular interpretations of the symphonic and operatic repertoire, and her dedication to highlighting new and unknown works by Latin American composers.”
Lina González-Granados. Performance at the Scottish Rite Hall. Photo by Ricardo Romo.
In an interview with Serena Sanchez of Calo News, González-Granados emphasized her enthusiasm for linking music and beauty. “That’s why I pursued beauty and how it felt to play something that made me happy. I related happiness with beauty,” she explained. “In school, I would play castañets in the chorus or I would be singing pop music, rock, salsa, everything, and it just made me feel very happy. That’s how it started and then it became serious.”
González-Granados believes that everyone should have access to learning and enjoying the best music. Her approach to the classics aligns with the idea that access to music is a fundamental right, a right perhaps influenced by her family and friends’ experiences during the civil conflict. This perspective emphasizes music’s role in fulfilling the right to happiness and personal development. She is dedicated to training young musicians and finding projects she can be personally passionate about.
González-Granados shares the SA Philharmonic goal to enhance the music experience of new audiences. She explained to CALÓ News reporter Serena Sanchez, “The challenge that feels like a reward at all times is when new people come… and they feel that they belong and want to come back. That is the biggest reward. They want to come back not only because they feel that they belong, but they feel like ‘Oh, art and music is for a person like me, and I have a reaction to it.’”
The outstanding and varied performances that the SA Philharmonic under the direction of CEO Roberto Treviño is bringing to our community aim to make people of all ages feel that they belong and want to come back.
