SAN ANTONIO – Professional and pro-level symphonic orchestras are gaining momentum as they travel to reach audiences beyond traditional music halls.

Five years ago, Ronnie Sanders got the idea of ​​having high-caliber musicians come together to form an orchestra and play for audiences for free.

“Would anybody show up? And they did,” Sanders said to his surprise.

He has about 70 members who audition for the part. They travel to different auditoriums in the city and area as part of the South Texas Symphonic Orchestra.

“Most of our concerts are absolutely free. We want anybody who wants to hear an orchestra to come without any problem with ticket prices,” Sanders said.

The orchestra is on donations and fundraisers for support.

“It’s different when you’re playing with two or three people and then 70 people,” Sanders said.

Vaeda Corso, who plays the cello, said there is an artistic expression she wants

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — You can add a massive construction project to the list of traveling hassles through canceled flights, long wait times, and lost bags in Houston.

It’s been a painful summer for air travelers, and now, the head of the Houston Airport System is admitting to our ABC13 partner, The Houston Chronicle, that airport problems caught even him off guard.

Analysts predicted that air travel wouldn’t be back in full swing until 2024 or 2025 since the pandemic hit in 2020.

But, the Houston Airport System head told the Houston Chronicle that domestic, European, and Latin American travel is almost back to normal at Houston airports.

RELATED: IAH warns travelers to find alternative parking spots due to all terminal garages being full

At Bush Intercontinental Airport, the combination of higher than expected travel and the airport’s $1.4 billion dollar construction project has brought significant problems.

The construction site

Art institutions in the United States are increasing looking to Native American communities to organize public showings, or exhibitions, of ancestral art and artifacts.

Native American voices and artistry are at the center of one new traveling exhibition. Grounded in Clay opened on July 31 at the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture in Santa Fe. It travels next year to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, before taking more stops at the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston and the Saint Louis Art Museum.

Grounded in Clay explores pottery from the Pueblo Indian area of ​​the American Southwest.

In Pueblo pottery traditions, artists use their hands to form clay into many shapes and sizes. Then they fire it inside a very hot stove called a kiln. The process permanently hardens the clay.

60 Native American artists, museum professionals, storytellers and political leaders worked together to develop