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Summer Festival 2008
Ten years, Seven composers, One pianist

July 6, 13, 20 and 27, 2008, 4:00 p.m.
The Neurosciences Institute

It seems the Athenaeum is always celebrating some kind of milestone these days, but it’s still hard to believe that this will be our tenth Summer Festival with Gustavo Romero. As many of you will remember, the tradition began with a six-concert Chopin cycle, marking the Athenaeum’s 100th anniversary. The concerts, scheduled to be held at the Athenaeum, sold out so quickly that two of them were moved to The Neurosciences Institute to accommodate larger audiences. Met with tremendous enthusiasm, the Athenaeum Summer Festival became a tradition, and each year Romero, a longtime friend of the Athenaeum, has devoted himself to the in-depth study of one composer’s repertoire, with some composers spanning multiple summers.

This year’s festival will be a look back at the work of the seven composers we have celebrated: Chopin, Bach, Beethoven, Mozart, Schubert, Schumann, and Brahms. This will be a chance to reflect on happy memories of past festival highlights, or for newcomers, a chance to experience a broad range of the very best in classical music for piano. In addition, one of the programs will include a trio, a quartet and a quintet.

Tickets are on sale now, by phone or in person at the Athenaeum. In addition, tickets may be purchased for dinners following the concerts, at private homes or at the Athenaeum.


Athenaeum Summer Festival 2008 Program

Sunday, July 6
Bach - Busoni 2 chorale preludes
Schubert - 4 Impromptus op. 90
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Chopin 4 Ballades

Sunday, July 13
Schumann - Arabesque
Mozart - Fantasy in D Minor K. 397
Beethoven - Sonata op. 53 "Waldstein"
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Chopin - 4 Scherzos

Sunday, July 20
Mozart - Piano quartet in G Minor K. 478
Brahms - Trio in B Major
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Schumann - Piano quintet

Sunday, July 27
Beethoven - Sonata in C Major op. 2 no. 3
Schubert - 4 Impromptus op. 142
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Mozart - Sonata in a Major K. 331
Beethoven - Sonata in F Minor, op. 57 "Appassionata"


Ticket Prices

Series - Keyboard View : Athenaeum Member: $132
Nonmember: $152
Series - Non-keyboard View: Athenaeum Member: $92
Nonmember: $112
Individual Concerts - Keyboard View: Athenaeum Member: $35
Nonmember: $40
Individual Concerts - Non-Keyboard View: Athenaeum Member: $25
Nonmember: $30
4 Concert Series with 4 Dinners: $550
Individual Concerts with Dinners: $150

Gustavo Romero

In the spring of 1976, a talented young San Diego pianist gave his first public performance as part of the Monday noon Mini-Concert series at the Athenaeum. Gustavo Romero was only eleven years old at the time, but had already established a reputation for his extraordinary talent and musicianship.

After that early concert, the pianist performed with the New York Philharmonic at the age of 13, the Boston Pops Orchestra at 16, and the Los Angeles Philharmonic at 18. After graduating from the Juilliard School of Music, Romero was the 1989 winner of the prestigious Clara Haskil Piano Competition in Switzerland, and this opened Europe to him.

Since then, the pianist has played with other leading orchestras including Radio France Orchestra, Philharmonia Hungarica, and the Liege Philharmonic, with which he appeared on tour and in a concert internationally telecast from the United Nations. He has also appeared at major festivals including New York's Mostly Mozart Festival, the Aspen Music Festival, the Montpellier Festival in France, and the Montreux Festival in Switzerland.

As a recitalist, Romero is in demand throughout the world. Since 1999, the Athenaeum has presented Romero’s “cycles,” devoted to specific composers, for which he is now widely known. Since Gustavo had memorized all of Chopin’s music, Erika Torri saw the opportunity to create a signature event to commemorate the library’s 100th anniversary. Following the Athenaeum anniversary performance, Gustavo took his ambitious Chopin series to New York’s Alice Tully Hall, where he headlined a three-hour marathon, featuring over two dozen American pianists and honoring Chopin's 150th anniversary.

Athenaeum Summer Festivals

1999 Chopin

2000 Bach

2001-02 Beethoven

2003-04 Mozart

2005 Schubert

2006 Schumann

2007 Brahms

These concerts are made possible in part, thanks to funding from the City of San Diego through a program managed by the Commission for Arts and Culture and the County of San Diego.

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