Monday, February 17, 2025
12 PM

Fred Benedetti was born in Sasebo, Japan, and began playing the guitar at the age of 9. In 1986 he was one of the 12 guitarists chosen worldwide to perform in the Master Class of Andres Segovia at USC. Erica Erenyi completed a Master’s degree and Performance Residency Program in cello performance at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, as a student of Anne Martindale Williams. She received her Bachelor of Music from Biola University in La Mirada, California, as a student of Marlin Owen. More recently, she undertook a course of intensive study with Peter Thiemann in Barcelona, Spain. Erica has performed with International Opera Theater in Italy, Academia Internacional de Música de Solsona, Spain, and the Henry Mancini Institute in Los Angeles. She is active as a freelance musician in San Diego, playing in a variety of genres including theatre productions (with The Old Globe, La Jolla Playhouse, and Broadway San Diego), California Chamber Orchestra, recording projects, and with jazz pianist Danny Green.

Friday, September 27, 2024
7:30 PM

The series concludes Friday, September 27, with San Diego Music Hall of Fame inductee Fred Benedetti, Sandé Lollis, and Lisa Sanders and Brown Sugar. Benedetti studied classical guitar with Segovia and practices jazz, folk, rock, and flamenco styling. He is featured on over 200 records and numerous film and television soundtracks/ads. Singer-songwriter Lisa Sanders has a distinct country/bluesy/Americana sound; her genres include folk, pop, gospel, rock, and jazz. Sanders and Brown Sugar are a dynamic soulful, heartful singing duo with a gift for crafting wonderful songs and masterful storytelling. They have been together touring and recording as a duo for two decades, with Sanders singing lead and playing guitar, and Karen “Brown Sugar” Hayes, who is a nurse by day and a beautiful singing duo partner lending her gift of sweet harmonies to song by night. Sandé Lollis is an award-winning San Diego–based singer-songwriter known for her ability to weave captivating stories through her music. Drawing inspiration from personal experiences, conversations overheard in cafés, favorite books, and random thoughts, she crafts original melodies paired with introspective lyrics that explore the complexities of love, heartbreak, and life's twists and turns. Her voice and honest lyrics have struck a chord with listeners, with many praising her ability to connect on a deep emotional level. Lollis’s performance is soulful and wholly uplifting and earned her well-deserved San Diego Music Awards nominations for Best Country or Americana Album in 2022 and Best Country or Americana Artist in 2023.

Friday, September 6—Wax, Jesus Gonzalez, Rob Deez
Friday, September 13—Santiago Orozco, Bri Schillings, Sierra Marin
Friday, September 20—Walt Richards, Aaron Bowen, Stephen Bulman
Friday, September 27—Lisa Sanders and Brown Sugar, Fred Benedetti, Sandé Lollis
7:30 PM

The Athenaeum Music & Arts Library is pleased to present the 2024 Fall season of Acoustic Evenings concert series, beginning September 6, 2024. The Acoustic Evenings series at the Athenaeum showcases some of the finest acoustic musicians in San Diego. Three acts fill each program and attentive audiences delight in the intimacy of the unplugged storytelling format. Refreshments are available at the intermission reception and post-concert meet-and-greet. San Diego Music Hall of Fame founder Jefferson Jay organizes and hosts the series. The project advances the Athenaeum’s commitment to support diverse San Diego talent. Acoustic Evenings is an unforgettable and personal experience for San Diego music lovers. The series, continuing through September 27, 2024, is set in the Athenaeum’s Joan & Irwin Jacobs Music Room.

Monday, August 12, 2024
12 PM

Fred Benedetti was born in Sasebo, Japan, and began playing the guitar at the age of 9. He has played locally with the San Diego Symphony, the San Diego Opera, the Starlight Opera, the American Ballet Company, the Old Globe Theatre, Luciano Pavarotti, and jazz artist Dave Brubeck. He is a full-time professor of music at Grossmont College where he is the head of the guitar studies program; he is part of the SDSU guitar program with colleagues Robert Wetzel and Sean Bassett. Fred is listed in the prestigious "Who's Who Among America's Teachers-2002" and received a "Most Influential Professor " in 2001 from SDSU, the "NISOD" Excellence in Teaching award from the University of Texas at Austin in 1992 and an "Outstanding Chair" award in 1990 from Grossmont College.

Monday, March 25, 2024
12 PM

Fred Benedetti was born in Sasebo, Japan, and began playing the guitar at the age of 9.

Peter Sprague started playing guitar when he was 12 and attended a year of study at Interlochen Arts Academy in Michigan.

Bassist Mackenzie Leighton is a bass player specializing in jazz and theater.

Friday, May 5, 2023
7:30 PM

Fred Benedetti was born in Sasebo, Japan, and began playing the guitar at the age of 9. In 1986 he was one of the 12 guitarists chosen worldwide to perform in the Master Class of Andres Segovia at USC. MohaviSoul is a 6-piece, award-winning working band. The resurgence of acoustic music encouraged guitarist-singer Mark Miller and singer-mandolin player Randy Hanson to form MohaviSoul in 2012. A love of Western history and cowboy and train songs inspired Walt Richards and Paula Strong to form Trails and Rails.

Fridays, April 7 & 21; May 5, 2023
7:30 PM

The Acoustic Evenings series at the Athenaeum showcases some of the finest acoustic musicians in San Diego. Three acts fill each program and attentive audiences delight in the intimacy of the unplugged storytelling format. Refreshments are available at the intermission reception and post-concert meet-and-greet. San Diego Music Hall of Fame founder Jefferson Jay curates and hosts the concert series. The project advances the Athenaeum’s commitment to support diverse San Diego talent. Acoustic Evenings is an unforgettable and personal experience for San Diego music lovers.

Monday, February 20, 2023

12 PM

Fred Benedetti began studies of classical guitar at the age of 16 and by age 26 was one of 12 guitarists worldwide to perform in one of the last masterclasses of Maestro Andres Segovia. Erica Erenyi completed a Master’s degree and Performance Residency Program in cello performance at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, as a student of Anne Martindale Williams. She received her Bachelor of Music from Biola University in La Mirada, California, as a student of Marlin Owen.

Friday, April 1, 2022
7:30 PM

On Friday, April 1, Jay features guitarist Greg Douglass, who has toured and recorded with Van Morrison, Duane Eddy, Link Wray, Hot Tuna, Dave Mason, and Eddie Money and cowrote and played on the Steve Miller Band hit “Jungle Love”; local music hero Fred Benedetti, who studied classical guitar with Segovia but also plays jazz, some folk and rock, and even a little flamenco; and Story and Tune (Californian poet Karyn Thurston and Aussie singer-songwriter Ben Grace), who share a real-life love story of meeting despite the odds.

Fridays, April 1, 8 & 29, 2022
7:30 PM

The Acoustic Evenings series at the Athenaeum showcases some of the finest acoustic musicians in San Diego. Three acts fill each program and attentive audiences delight in the intimacy of the unplugged storytelling format. Refreshments are available at the intermission reception and post-concert meet-and-greet. San Diego Music Hall of Fame founder Jefferson Jay curates and hosts the concert series. The project advances the Athenaeum’s commitment to support diverse San Diego talent. Acoustic Evenings is an unforgettable and personal experience for San Diego music lovers.

Monday, January 31, 2022

12 PM

Fred Benedetti was born in Sasebo, Japan, and began playing the guitar at the age of 9. In 1986 he was one of the 12 guitarists chosen worldwide to perform in the Master Class of Andres Segovia at USC where Guitarra Magazine wrote:

"…Fred Benedetti amazed the audience with his performance of the Bach Chaconne..."