October 28, 2022–April 15, 2023
7:30 PM
The Athenaeum Music & Arts Library is pleased to present the 2022–2023 season of the Barbara and William Karatz Chamber Concert Series, beginning October 28, 2022, at 7:30 p.m. The performance series that continues through April 15, 2023, will be set in the intimate Joan & Irwin Jacobs Music Room inside the Athenaeum. Enjoy chamber music as it was intended—in a warm, personal setting, where you are treated as a guest in our historic library. At each concert you’ll hear a mix of music rarely presented locally as well as cherished masterpieces, guaranteed to uplift and move you, performed by the finest chamber musicians we know. We will welcome back some of the Athenaeum’s favorite artists from past seasons along with some new faces that are sure to inspire.
All concerts are preceded by a pre-concert lecture presented by Nuvi Mehta at 6:45 p.m (generously underwritten by Gordon Brodfuehrer) and are followed by a reception with the artists in the Sharon & Joel Labovitz Entry Hall.
October 28, 2022—Hidden Valley Virtuosi
This trio of accomplished soloists and chamber musicians (violinist Tien-Hsin Cindy Wu, cellist Tanya Tomkins, and pianist Ines Irawati) have become fast friends and collaborators, bringing their vast individual experiences together for the past few years. The Hidden Valley Virtuosi will open our season with a dramatic and varied program featuring piano trios by Edvard Grieg and Felix Mendelssohn.
November 21, 2022—Colin Jacobsen, violin, and Vicky Chow, piano
Violinist and composer Colin Jacobsen is “one of the most interesting figures on the classical music scene” (Washington Post), and Vicky Chow is “one of our era’s most brilliant pianists” (Pitchfork). These two musicians are well-versed in music from all eras, are rock stars on their instruments, and will join forces for an exciting and varied program. They have collaborated with some of today’s most exciting artists (including Yo-Yo Ma, Bang on a Can All-Stars, and Silkroad), and will present a program with a thoughtful mix of music from the past and present, featuring works by Bach and Debussy alongside contemporary composers Philip Glass and Judd Greenstein, among others.
December 5, 2022—Ilya Yakushev, piano
One of our Athenaeum audience’s best-loved pianists and winner of numerous international competitions, Ilya Yakushev will return for a solo recital rich in variety, featuring a little something for everyone. Yakushev’s program opens with Haydn and Mozart before embarking on Beethoven’s “Moonlight” Sonata. A Romantic second half includes a selection of Rachmaninoff’s preludes in celebration of the 150th anniversary of the composer’s birth.
February 27, 2023—Agave Baroque and Reggie Mobley, countertenor
Johann Sebastian, Johann Christoph, Johann Bernhard, Johann Michael, and Heinrich are all in the family . . . the BACH family. The Grammy-nominated team of Agave Baroque (Aaron Westman and Anna Washburn, violin; Andrew McIntosh, viola; William Skeen, violoncello and viola da gamba; Henry Lebedinsky, organ; and Kevin Cooper, theorbo) and star countertenor Reginald Mobley perform BACH/Family, a celebration of this illustrious musical family, active from the age of the Thirty Years’ War all the way through the end of the 18th century. This musical family reunion includes Johann Sebastian’s beautiful and brilliant Violin Sonata in G and a choice selection of virtuosic arias from his cantatas; a passionate wedding chaconne by second cousin Johann Christoph; a wild sonata by Christoph’s brother, Johann Michael; the Orchestral Suite no. 1 in G minor by an immensely talented cousin, Johann Bernhard; as well as works by early Bach contemporaries Philipp Heinrich Erlebach and Johann Rosenmüller.
March 17, 2023—Formosa Quartet
The Formosa Quartet (Jasmine Lin and Wayne Lee, violins; Che-Yen Chen, viola; Deborah Pae, cello) is one of our favorite ensembles. Hailed as “spellbinding” (The Strad) and “remarkably fine” (Gramophone), they return to the Athenaeum with a program including two of the most beloved string quartets in the repertoire by Mozart and Schumann. This colorful program additionally features a “Formosa Quartet Set,” an assortment of shorts from their collection of folk, pop, jazz, and poetry arrangements, curated especially for each concert.
April 15, 2023—Baumer Quartet and Alex Greenbaum, cello
The Baumer Quartet (Nathan Olsen and Aaron Requiro, violins; John T. Posadas, viola; and David Requiro, cello) makes its first visit to the Athenaeum with a celebratory program to end the 2022–2023 season, featuring quartets by Haydn and Ravel. The members of the Quartet pursue parallel careers as international soloists, leaders, and principal players in world-class orchestras, as members of eminent chamber groups; and as professors of music. They will be joined by Alex Greenbaum (cellist and Co-Director of Chamber Music at the Athenaeum) for one of the most beloved chamber works ever written, Schubert’s epic Cello Quintet in C Major.
The concerts will be in person at the Athenaeum Music & Arts Library. There are no physical tickets for these events. Your name will be on an attendee list at the front door. Doors open at 6:15 p.m. Seating is first-come; first-served. These events will be presented in compliance with State of California and County of San Diego health regulations as applicable at the time of each concert.
Masks optional. If you have a fever, cough, or flu-like symptoms, please stay home.