Monday, May 20, 2024
12 PM
Naomi Hobbs was born and raised in Tokyo, Japan. She earned her music degree at the Musashino Academia Musicae in Tokyo, where she also taught for 10 years. In 1998, the year before she moved to San Diego, she performed Rachmaninoff’s 2nd Piano Concerto with the Kanagawa Philharmonic Orchestra. She was a music and piano instructor at San Diego Community College district for 10 years. Hobbs won first prize at the Seventh Annual International Piano Competition in Mexico in 2012 and was the gold medalist of the Sixth Annual. Seattle International Piano Competition in 2015.
Yumiko Oya grew up in Tokyo, Japan. She began playing piano at age three. After moving to the US in 1990, she began studying music theory at Orange Coast College and was invited to play as a soloist on Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No.4 with its orchestra at their annual concert. Further study earned Oya her Master’s degree in Piano Performance at the California Institute of the Arts. Since then she has actively performed as a soloist and with various ensembles.
Free concerts at noon every Monday from fall through spring . . . no wonder the Mini-Concerts are the longest-running and one of the most popular classical music series at the library! This series was founded by Glenna Hazleton in 1970 at the Athenaeum, and has been going strong ever since. The concerts feature both local and touring musicians, prize-winning students, university music faculty members, local chamber ensembles. . . and the repertoire also includes jazz, folk and world music. There are no reservations, no tickets . . . just line up at the side door of the Athenaeum before noon. (Donations are always welcome!) Mini-Concerts take place every Monday at noon and last about an hour.
The concerts will be in person at the Athenaeum Music & Arts Library. There are no physical tickets for these events. Doors open at 11:50 a.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.