Our Educational Mission
As a 501(c) 3 non-profit organization, our mission is to provide educational experiences through musical performances to teach varying audiences—from pre-school through adult audiences—the intricacies of classical and contemporary compositions while providing captivating performances and entertainment in an educational manner.
We aim to expose classical, contemporary, and popular music to as many audiences as possible in order to help strengthen the connections to the performing arts in the San Antonio area!
River City Winds is a strong supporter of community performances and educational ventures with local schools. From intimate venues and weddings to the open spaces of San Antonio with large-group performances, the trio's synergy creates a delightful musical journey that captures the spirit of the River City!
We want to bring chamber music to everyone and make it accessible to all audiences by differentiating our performances. In order to connect with the student audiences, we take different approaches, methods, and engagement strategies to connect them to the music: pairing music selections with literary texts for younger audiences, selecting and creating clinics for older student audiences, and focusing on performances with in-depth discussions about the musical structure and development of the composition with more experienced audiences!
Special thanks
We want to give some special thanks to individuals who have helped us achieve our goals! We try to update this section as much as possible, so keep checking back often to see highlights of our visits in and around San Antonio!
Chase failing
Public School Liaison
Chase Failing is the Director of Bands at Poth High School where he conducts the Poth Wind Ensemble, and directs the Mighty Pirate Marching Band and Jazz Band as well as overseeing the music curriculum for the district. Under his direction, the Poth Bands have consistently received superior ratings on the field and in concert. He has also had students perform at the Texas State Solo and Ensemble Contest for multiple years. In 2023 the Poth Wind Ensemble was invited to perform at the Tobin Center as part of the YOSA Invitational. As an advocate for new and high quality compositions for young bands, as well as supporting Texan composers, Chase has recently assisted in commissioning works by Carol Brittin Chambers and Haley Woodrow.
Chase holds a Master of Music degree in Instrumental Conducting from Texas State University where he studied conducting with Dr. Caroline Beatty and euphonium with Mr. Raul Rodriguez, and a Bachelor of Music in Music Studies from the University of Texas at San Antonio. Prior to his appointment at Poth High School, Chase served as Assistant Band Director at Harlandale High School in San Antonio, TX.
Chase has been married to his lovely wife Elizabeth for 8 years. Together they have a beautiful daughter, Emily Guiann, their 2023 Valentine’s Day gift.
Our day at Poth ISD - May 14, 2024
We spent the day bringing Spider Suite by Jenni Brandon to the kiddos and showing them how music—much like a book—can tell a story. We used a the book Are You A Spider? by Judy Allen as a visual helper that perfectly paralleled the movements of Spider Suite (listen to our complete performance HERE).
There was even an interactive portion where the littler ones helped out Tyler by really bringing the wickedness of the spider hunting their prey to life!
For the older students, we got to perform Spider Suite in its entirety, talked about our journeys through life with music, and answered so many wonderful questions about music after high school, performing in an ensemble, and the different paths possible to keep playing after graduation!
