Concerts

 
Featured
Mikan Zlatkovich Trio
Jan 6
Mini-Concert
Mikan Zlatkovich Trio
Mini-Concert

Monday, January 6, 2025
12 PM

Born a musical prodigy in former Yugoslavia, Mikan Zlatkovich started his professional jazz career as a teenager whose immense talent was quickly recognized by top musicians, audiences, and music critics alike.

Mini-Concert
17th Annual soundON Festival (Day 1)
Jan 9
soundON
17th Annual soundON Festival (Day 1)
soundON

Thursday, January 9, 2025
7:30 PM

In addition to honoring their longtime collaborator composer Stuart Saunders-Smith with a performance of Notebook for ensemble, NOISE performs solo works by Matthew Burtner, Salina Fisher, and others.

soundON
17th Annual soundON Festival (Series)
Jan 9
soundON Series
17th Annual soundON Festival (Series)
soundON Series

January 9, 10 & 11, 2025
7:30 PM

San Diego New Music and the Athenaeum Music & Arts Library present the 2025 soundON Festival, exploring cutting-edge contemporary music from around the world. Celebrate the 30th Anniversary of San Diego New Music and the 25th Anniversary of San Diego New Music's ensemble-in-residence NOISE with all-time favorites alongside brand-new works. Enjoy three nights of concerts in two separate locations in San Diego!

soundON Series
17th Annual soundON Festival (Day 2)
Jan 10
soundON
17th Annual soundON Festival (Day 2)
soundON

Friday, January 10, 2025
7:30 PM

In their first concert 25 years ago, NOISE performed a classic of the mid-20th century, Pierre Boulez’s Le Marteau sans maître. On the 10th, they reprise this work, along with a selection of pieces performed by guest artists Duo Entre-Nous, visiting from Arizona.

soundON
17th Annual soundON Festival (Day 3)
Jan 11
soundON
17th Annual soundON Festival (Day 3)
soundON

Saturday, January 11, 2025
7:30 PM

San Diego New Music closes the festival with a concert featuring Christopher Adler’s groovy classic Ecstatic Volutions in a Neon Haze and a world premiere of a newly commissioned work by Sidney Marquez Boquiren.

soundON
Ines Irawati, solo piano
Jan 13
Mini-Concert
Ines Irawati, solo piano
Mini-Concert

Monday, January 13, 2025
12 PM

Known for her expressivity, virtuosity, and versatility, Indonesian-born pianist Ines Irawati is in demand both as a solo recitalist and a collaborative pianist. Ms. Irawati is currently serving as the music and artistic director of San Diego Opera's Young Artist Training Program, as well as its community outreach concert series, Opera Exposed! Concerts. She has served as a vocal coach and pianist at the Institute for Young Dramatic Voices, and she was the head vocal coach and collaborative piano faculty at Point Loma Nazarene University from 2004–2017.

Mini-Concert
Alex Kautz Quartet
Jan 16
Athenaeum Jazz
Alex Kautz Quartet
Athenaeum Jazz

Thursday, January 16, 2025
7:30 PM

The fall series concludes Thursday, January 16, with the Athenaeum debut of the Alex Kautz Quartet, featuring Kautz on drums, Chico Pinheiro on guitar, John Ellis on saxophone, and Hamish Smith on bass. Renowned for his musicality, groove, and knowledge of various genres, Kautz stands out as a distinguished percussionist, educator, and composer. With an unwavering passion for jazz and world music, he has crafted a captivating and distinct musical voice. A Brazilian artist based in New York City, Kautz has been an important part of the city’s music scene for the last decade and has played and/or recorded with some of the top artists in the industry today, including Tim Ries, Magos Herrera, Nilson Matta, Chico Pinheiro, Steve Wilson, Lenny Andrade, Fabio Gouvea, Helio Alves, Victor Prieto, and Lionel Loueke.

Athenaeum Jazz
Mini-Concert
No Mini-concert
Mini-Concert

Monday, January 20, 2025

There will be no mini-concert on Monday, January 20 in observance of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. Thank you for understanding, and see you next Monday!

Mini-Concert
Edward Simon Trio
Jan 26
Jazz at the Athenaeum
Edward Simon Trio
Jazz at the Athenaeum

Sunday, January 26, 2025
7:30 PM

The winter series opens on Sunday, January 26, with the return of celebrated Venezuelan pianist-composer-arranger Edward Simon, joined by his longtime trio members bassist Reuben Rogers (also known for his work with Charles Lloyd) and drummer Adam Cruz (also known for his work with Danilo Pérez). Simon’s last Athenaeum performance as a leader was with his project Femeninas: Songs of Latin American Women, which featured vocalist Magos Herrera. He returns to the library to celebrate the release of a new trio album, Latin American Songbook, vol. 2, which has a special focus on the Afro-Caribbean musical traditions of his native Venezuela.

Jazz at the Athenaeum
Jazz at the Athenaeum | Winter 2025 Series
Jan 26
Jazz at the Athenaeum Series
Jazz at the Athenaeum | Winter 2025 Series
Jazz at the Athenaeum Series

Sunday, January 26 » Edward Simon Trio
Friday, March 7 » Allison, Cardenas & Nash
Wednesday, March 12 » Sullivan Fortner Trio
Wednesday, March 19 » Avishai Cohen Quartet
7:30 PM

Jazz returns to the Athenaeum for our annual series of winter concerts in the Joan & Irwin Jacobs Music Room (at 1008 Wall Street in La Jolla). This series features both Athenaeum favorites and debuts by internationally acclaimed artists. Seating is limited so order soon!

Jazz at the Athenaeum Series
AGAVE with Reginald Mobley, countertenor
Feb 10
Chamber Concert
AGAVE with Reginald Mobley, countertenor
Chamber Concert

Monday, February 10, 2025
7:30 PM

On Monday, February 10, the Grammy-nominated ensemble AGAVE returns to the Athenaeum with Reginald Mobley, a countertenor noted for his “shimmering voice” (BachTrack) and renowned for his interpretation of baroque, classical, and modern repertoire. AGAVE will present American Originals, a program based on their album of the same name that features music by brilliant yet underrepresented composers and explores how the blending of European, African, and indigenous styles created uniquely American sounds. The ensemble will include Mobley, Co-Director Aaron Westman on violin and viola, Anna Washburn on violin and viola, Kevin Cooper on guitar and theorbo, Katherine Kyme on violin and viola, William Skeen on viola da gamba and violoncello, and Co-Director Henry Lebedinsky on harpsichord and piano.

Chamber Concert
Allison, Cardenas & Nash
Mar 7
Jazz at the Athenaeum
Allison, Cardenas & Nash
Jazz at the Athenaeum

Friday, March 7, 2025
7:30 PM

The series continues Friday, March 7, with a San Diego debut by Allison, Cardenas & Nash, a collective trio of top New York City–based artists bassist Ben Allison, guitarist Steve Cardenas, and saxophonist Ted Nash. The trio weave musical conversations that are full of subtlety and surprise. They have released four albums including their latest, Tell the Birds I Said Hello: The Music of Herbie Nichols, which features previously unknown music by Nichols, an underpraised pianist-composer often compared to Thelonious Monk.

Jazz at the Athenaeum
Sullivan Fortner Trio
Mar 12
Jazz at the Athenaeum
Sullivan Fortner Trio
Jazz at the Athenaeum

Wednesday, March 12, 2025
7:30 PM

Next up, on Wednesday, March 12, is a return visit by the remarkable Sullivan Fortner Trio, featuring Fortner on piano, Tyrone Allen on bass, and Kayvon Gordon on drums. New Orleans–native Sullivan Fortner has gained wide recognition as one of the most accomplished jazz musicians of his generation. His accolades include the 2015 Cole Porter Fellowship, the Leonore Annenberg Arts Fellowship, the 2016 Lincoln Center Award for Emerging Artists and, in 2020, the Shifting Foundation Grant for artistic career development. A Grammy Award–winner, he has earned recognition in multiple DownBeat Critics Polls, winning first place as both Rising Star Pianist and Rising Star Jazz Artist. His broad range of musical associations includes artists such as Roy Hargrove, Stefon Harris, Cecile McLorin Salvant, Ambrose Akinmusire, and Wynton Marsalis.

Jazz at the Athenaeum
Avishai Cohen Quartet
Mar 19
Jazz at the Athenaeum
Avishai Cohen Quartet
Jazz at the Athenaeum

Wednesday, March 19, 2025
7:30 PM

The series concludes on Wednesday, March 19, with the local debut of the Avishai Cohen Quartet, featuring Cohen on trumpet, Yonathan Avishai on piano, Barak Mori on bass, and Ziv Ravitz on drums. Cohen is globally recognized as a player-composer open to multiple strains of jazz and active as a leader, co-leader, and sideman. Aside from the acclaimed work with his quartet, he has also recorded and toured as part of the Mark Turner Quartet, the SFJAZZ Collective, and the 3 Cohens Sextet—with his sister, clarinetist-saxophonist Anat, and brother, saxophonist Yuval.

Jazz at the Athenaeum
Great Wall String Quartet
Apr 8
Chamber Concert
Great Wall String Quartet
Chamber Concert

Tuesday, April 8, 2025
7:30 PM

The series continues Tuesday, April 8, with the Great Wall String Quartet performing a program of Mendelssohn, Schulhoff, and Beethoven. Its members share a vision to connect with more immediacy to audiences and to give guidance to the next generation of chamber musicians. In his role at the Deutsches Symphony Orchester Berlin, violinist Wei Lu is one of the youngest concertmasters in a major orchestra. Violinist Qi Zhou is a member of the prestigious chamber orchestra Philharmonisches Kammerorchester Muenchen. Xu Wenbo is the current viola and chamber music instructor at the North German Radio Symphony Orchestra Academy in Hamburg. Hailed in New York Concert Review as “a superb cellist with intense and sensuous sound,” Yao Zhao performs with a dynamism that has secured him a successful career as the principal cello of the San Diego Symphony Orchestra.

Chamber Concert
New Orford String Quartet
May 12
Chamber Concert
New Orford String Quartet
Chamber Concert

Monday, May 12, 2025
7:30 PM

The series concludes Monday, May 12, with the New Orford String Quartet presenting works by Mozart, Dinuk Wijeratne, and Schubert (Death and the Maiden). Violinists Andrew Wan and Jonathan Crow, violist Sharon Wei, and cellist Brian Manke formed their ensemble with the goal of developing a new model for a touring string quartet: bringing four elite orchestral leaders and soloists together on a regular basis over many years to perform chamber music at the highest level. The Toronto Star has described this outcome as “nothing short of electrifying.” They have seen astonishing success, giving annual concerts for national CBC broadcast and receiving two Opus Awards for Concert of the Year and a 2017 JUNO Award for Best Classical Album. Recent seasons have featured return engagements in Chicago, Montreal, and Toronto, as well as their New York City debut on Lincoln Center’s Great Performers series.

Chamber Concert
Folias Duo
Jun 2
Mini-Concert
Folias Duo
Mini-Concert

Monday, June 2, 2025
12 PM

“Theirs is a music that transcends genre and that ultimately brands itself as Folias Duo music, full stop” (textura on the recording Heartdance, 2023). Folias Duo is a distinguished musical ensemble, renowned for its remarkable fusion of classical and contemporary influences. Comprising flutist Carmen Maret and guitarist Andrew Bergeron, this married duo has cultivated a unique and enduring performer-composer collaboration spanning two decades. Their exceptional artistry breathes fresh vitality into classical music, infusing it with the rich tapestry of jazz, world music, and improvisation, crafting meticulously curated and evocative compositions. As accomplished composers and performers, Folias Duo continually explores the technical and sonic possibilities inherent in their intimate flute and guitar combination.

Mini-Concert