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Athenaeum Mini-Concerts
Every Monday at 12 noon
Free concerts at noon every Monday year-round . . . 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 (near the Rotunda) before noon. Seating is first-come; first-served. Mini-Concerts take place every Monday at noon and last about an hour. Donations are always welcome!
For more information, call us at (858) 454-5872.
The Mini-Concerts are supported, in part, by David and Joyce Abrams, Jack L. Brown and Jan Chatten-Brown, Florence Riford La Jolla Community Fund, Edwin and Ruby Gin, Luisa and Paul Larson, Rod Innes and Mary Jo McCall, Catherine and Bob Palmer, Rick Rand, Marit Roman, Jack and Patti Schwellenbach, David and Marcia Sleet, Sleet Music Performance Fund, and Richard Vande Noord.
JOAN & IRWIN JACOBS MUSIC ROOM
Athenaeum Music & Arts Library
1008 Wall Street
La Jolla, CA 92037
CONCERTS BEGIN AT 12 NOON.
DOORS OPEN AT 11:40 AM.
LAST ENTRY AT 12:10 PM OR ONCE CAPACITY IS REACHED.
Free admission.
Reservations are not necessary, but seating is limited.
Monday, May 5, 2025
12 PM
Sheer passion for chamber music drives Aviara Trio. Comprised of pianist Ines Irawati, violinist Robert Schumitzky, and cellist Erin Breene, this exciting ensemble has been making an indelible impression on the musical landscape of Southern California for the past ten years. Most recently, the trio was invited to perform on Celebrate LA, Los Angeles Philharmonic's 100-year anniversary celebration, at the Hollywood Bowl. With performance degrees from the Juilliard School, Cleveland Institute of Music, Yale University, and Rice University, Ms. Irawati, Ms. Breene, and Mr. Schumitzky have studied and performed with some of the world’s finest musical pedagogues including Paul Katz, Claude Frank, Timothy Eddy, Fred Sherry, Joseph Silverstein, Jacques Israelievitch, Sally Thomas, Miriam Fried, Peter Oundjian, and the Juilliard, Miró, American, Tokyo, Cleveland, Borromeo, and Alexander Quartets.
Monday, May 12, 2025
12 PM
Pacific Woodwind Quintet is a group of experienced musicians who are enthusiastic about introducing audiences to both standard wind quintet literature as well as arrangements of orchestral music. Consisting of Janet Cherif (horn), Laura Ford (bassoon), Paul Goodman (clarinet), Ken Kahan (flute), and Kathi Bower Peterson (oboe), the quintet is looking forward to their Athenaeum debut.
Monday, May 19, 2025
12 PM
Brightfeather is a dynamic and immersive violin-piano duo founded by violinist Benjamin Hoffman and pianist Irene Kim. Through deeply personal performances, Brightfeather is committed to bringing the light, hope, and strength of music to audiences across the globe. The duo has performed throughout the United States as well as in Europe, Asia, and Oceania, and presents repertoire spanning an extensive range of time periods and musical languages.
Monday, May 26, 2025
There will be no mini-concert on Monday, May 26 in observance of Memorial Day. Thank you for understanding, and see you Monday, June 9!
Monday, June 2, 2025
There will be no mini-concert on Monday, June 2 due to a private event. Thank you for understanding, and see you next Monday!
Monday, June 9, 2025
12 PM
Join us for a captivating concert with Folias Duo, the celebrated pairing of flutist Carmen Maret and guitarist Andrew Bergeron. With over two decades of collaboration, they are renowned for their seamless fusion of classical, jazz, world music, and improvisation. Their original compositions, inspired by life on the road and the beauty of the natural world, transport audiences with vivid storytelling through music. This performance will feature highlights from their newest works, including pieces inspired by the Great Lakes.
Monday, June 16, 2025
12 PM
Band leader and beloved piano player for many years in San Diego, Sue is known as the Queen of Boogie Woogie and always manages to entertain with fun and flair. She has won many San Diego Music Awards, with various bands, and toured the world with the late blues artist Candye Kane, for 8 years. In 2008 her album "Sophisticated Ladies" won the International Blues Challenge in Memphis for Best (unsigned) CD. The City of San Diego named a day after her, also in 2008.
Monday, June 23, 2025
12 PM
Guitarist Jimmy Patton and percussionist Enrique Platas have combined their talents to form this award-winning duo. Their music can be described as having an international flair as they incorporate flamenco, Middle-Eastern, salsa, calypso, Brazilian, and other world rhythms into their compositions and arrangements. Jimmy and Enrique's musical collaboration has given creation to their unique, fiery world-music style that has captivated audiences from all over. Listeners will experience virtuosic guitar passages accompanied by exotic percussive rhythms, which together produce a sound that will grab your soul.
Monday, June 30, 2025
12 PM
Comprised of Anna Grigorian and Natasha Gubenko, the award winning Grigorian Gubenko Piano Duo was formed in 2016. The duo has been featured numerous times at the MTAC conventions and continues to perform extensively at various professional and community functions. Both pianists lead busy piano teaching careers, conduct masterclasses, serve as adjudicators, and have leadership positions in the state and national professional music teachers associations.
Monday, July 7, 2025
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.
Monday, July 14, 2025
12 PM
Acclaimed flutist and three-time Global Music Award recipient, Brooklyn native Lori Bell is a flutist and composer of admirable depth and broad musical sympathies. A resident of San Diego, she has contributed to raising the standards of performance while earning acclaim from both peers and critics for her artistry on stage and in recordings.
Monday, July 21, 2025
12 PM
David Beldock and Ian Vatet are guitar players in the band Friends and Enablers. They play original music, folk, rock, and blues songs while having fun doing so. When Ian and David play guitars together, there is magic in the room. David Beldock performs original acoustic folk, blues and jazz. Beldock is a guitar player and singer/songwriter. He has played in two of San Diego’s most renowned bands, Bordertown and Wooden Angel. His songs have won various awards, most notably from the John Lennon Songwriting Contest and from Dr. Demento (which especially pleased him). His solo CDs have received favorable reviews. He enjoys writing songs and making music. Ian Vatet has been playing guitar for almost 50 years, and he continues to actively gig. Vatet has extensive experience performing, recording, composing, and teaching.
Monday, July 28, 2025
12 PM
Violinst Kenneth Liao will perform with Drew Butcher, who will join him on guitar. Violinist Kenneth Liao joined the San Diego Symphony in 2019 after spending two seasons as a Fellow with the New World Symphony. Born in Maryland, Mr. Liao received his Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Southern California, where he studied with Midori Goto, and subsequently completed a Master of Music degree at The Juilliard School under the tutelage of David Chan.