The Symphony Society of San Antonio has approved a new contract with the San Antonio Symphony’s musicians union to help complete the 2017-18 season, Kathleen Vale, the Symphony Society’s board chairwoman, announced Friday afternoon.

The contract agreement was finalized by the Symphony Society board Friday after terms were tentatively reached Wednesday and approved by the orchestra’s 72 players Thursday.

Donations continue to mount daily, so far more than $700,000, to keep the financially struggling orchestra performing this season, Vale added.

The new contract extends the base salary paid during the San Antonio Symphony’s first four months of this season, which was an extension of last season’s pay scale. The base pay is $1,120 per week for a season shortened to 26 weeks from an originally envisioned 30 weeks, said violinist Craig Sorgi, negotiating chairman of Musicians of the San Antonio Symphony.

The news came hours before the orchestra, under Music Director Sebastian Lang-Lessing, was set to perform a concert featuring three pieces of music honoring the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 3, “Eroica.” More than 1,300 people attended the Friday night concert.

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The program repeats at 8 p.m. Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday at the Tobin Center for the Performing Arts.

The new contract also allows symphony management to start live-streaming performances and archiving recordings online. Musicians will receive an extra $30 per week in compensation for that under what is known as an electronic media guarantee.

“It’s a shiny new toy we’ve been after for a long time. It will give greater visibility to the orchestra, and it will be a fund-raising tool,” Sorgi said. “It brings us into the 21st century where we belong.”

Archived concerts could be downloaded or listened to online, perhaps at Bexar County’s Bibliotech website.

Vale said the Symphony Society board now consists of about 20 members. Some of them recently rejoined the board after leaving when another nonprofit organization headed by three large donors, Symphonic Music for San Antonio, announced last summer it would take over orchestra operations from the Symphony Society.

But Symphonic Music for San Antonio pulled out of its role as the orchestra’s manager last month, citing a possible pension liability that the musicians disputed.

The Symphony Society has appointed an interim executive director, Karina Bharne, who previously was the symphony’s general manager.

Bharne replaces Tom Stephenson, a former San Antonio Express-News publisher, as the San Antonio Symphony’s top executive. Stephenson had served in that role since August after being hired by Symphonic Music for San Antonio, which was led by the Tobin Endowment, the Kronkosky Foundation and H-E-B.

Citing a lack of financial resources, the Symphony Society board initially decided on Jan. 3 to cancel the remaining season after the Jan. 5-6 concerts. It then signaled its intention to restore the season on Jan. 5 after Vale took over the board as chairwoman.

The biggest gift to the symphony so far has been about $200,000. Development Vice President Annette Paulin said the donor asked not to be identified.

Donations are being received at the symphony’s website, by checks mailed to the symphony at P.O. Box 658, San Antonio, Texas, 78293, or pledged by telephone to the symphony’s development office, 210-554-1051, Paulin said.

“Our city clearly wants the symphony to survive based on the recent response to events,” Vale said. “People are dropping off checks at my house. Everyone should buy a ticket, go to a concert and send a little money.”

As a result of the fund-raising since last week, the symphony will be able to perform the rest of the scheduled season except for two classical programs at the Tobin Center and a movie concert, “Jaws,” that had been scheduled for Jan. 26-27 at the Majestic Theatre. “Jaws” instead will occur next season, Vale said.

All but one of the remaining pops series concerts will be performed as scheduled, including the Jan. 19-20 “Magical Mystery Tour” program featuring Beatles music at the Tobin Center. The canceled pops concert is the Patriotic Pops scheduled for Sunday, May 7, but the Friday and Saturday night Patriotic Pops concerts May 5-6 will be staged, said Tobin Center CEO Mike Fresher.

Two classical series programs will change slightly. The March 9-10 concerts will feature Dvorak’s 9th Symphony instead of the 8th Symphony. Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, “Choral,” will be performed April 13-14 instead of pieces featuring cellist Johannes Moser.

“We are grateful to the community and to Mayor Ron Nirenberg, Councilman Robert Treviño and (Bexar County) Commissioners Court, who have stepped up and recognized how important the orchestra is, and to Kathleen Vale, for stepping up in a big way,” Sorgi said. “We’re happy. There’s so much potential for success in this.”

dhendricks@express-news.net