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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, Janet Allison, Jack L. Brown and Jan Chatten-Brown, Florence Riford La Jolla Community Fund, Edwin and Ruby Gin, Ronald Heller, Daniel and Mary Kelley, Laura and John Killmer, 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, Mina Taylor, Richard Vande Noord, Gianangelo Vergani, and Ann L. Zahner (in memory of Mary Ellen Fleischli).
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.
Banner image: Allison Adams Tucker; photo credit: Leonardo Mascaro
Monday, December 15, 2025
12 PM
Dr. Yewon Lee is a frequently sought-after conductor and collaborative pianist on the operatic and concert stage. Prior to relocating to San Diego, Lee was Assistant Music Director of Opera at Baldwin Wallace University and Adjunct Professor at Kent State University. In the operatic world, she coached at Baldwin Wallace Opera Theater, National Opera Center, Aspen Opera Theater Center, and International Vocal Arts Institute in Israel, France, Italy, and Japan. Born in South Korea, Hyun-Jeong Ahn is an accomplished soloist and chamber musician with appearances across the United States, France, Germany, Czech, Spain, and Korea. Ahn was invited to give a solo and chamber recitals at venues such as Carnegie Weill Recital Hall (New York), Brahms House (Baden-Baden, Germany), Palffy Palace (Prague, Czech), Leith Symington Griswold Hall, Goodwin Hall, Friedberg Hall in Maryland, Studzinski Recital Hall in Maine, and Krannert Center for the Performing Arts, Smith Recital Hall, Smith Memorial Room in Illinois, Seongnam Arts Center, Ceramic Palace Hall, Youngsan Art Center, Ewon Art Hall in Seoul.
Monday, December 22, 2025
12 PM
Barry Davis Salwen is an international concert pianist giving performances and master classes in the United States, Europe, Israel, and Asia. He gave two weeks of master classes at the Shanghai Conservatory in China, among many other places. As the recipient of a prestigious Fulbright Scholars Grant, he gave a semester's seminar at the Music Academy in Freiburg, Germany, one of the leading music institutions in the country.
Monday, December 29, 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, January 5, 2026
12 PM
Born by the Mediterranean Sea in Italy and raised between the Swiss Alps, Iris Moné is a Swiss-Italian artist with an international flair. She moved to Southern California 10 years ago, developed her songwriting craft and created soulful songs. In 2013, she was a finalist on the first season of The Voice of Switzerland, appeared on many albums, performed at the Belly Up Tavern in Solana Beach, the Bitter End in NYC, the Montreux Festival, and at the EXPO Milano.
Monday, January 12, 2026
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, January 19, 2026
There will be no mini-concert on Monday, January 19 in observance of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. Thank you for understanding, and see you next Monday!
Monday, January 26, 2026
12 PM
Dr. Michael Coonrod is a retired piano faculty member from the Interlochen Center for the Arts where he tutored classical piano students for 46 years. During that time, he earned his Doctor of Musical Arts in Performance from the Peabody Conservatory of Music in Baltimore, MD. Pianist Danny Holt performs around the globe in concert halls (Carnegie Hall, Walt Disney Concert Hall, Hollywood Bowl), clubs (Joe’s Pub, The Blue Whale, Copenhagen Jazzhouse) art galleries (MASS MoCA, Hammer Museum), churches, living rooms, and wherever else he can find a piano and someone to listen.
Monday, February 2, 2026
12 PM
Peter Sprague started playing guitar when he was 12 and attended a year of study at Interlochen Arts Academy in Michigan. Over the past decade, jazz pianist and Origin Records recording artist Danny Green has earned recognition as a bandleader and as a composer with a gift for spinning supple, absorbing narratives. Green’s growing portfolio of vibrant sounds—an enchanting mix of jazz, classical, and Brazilian rhythms—has captured the attention of critics around the world, including DownBeat Magazine, Jazziz, San Diego Union Tribune, the Boston Globe, and Public Radio International. It’s no small wonder that Green has earned two San Diego Music awards for Best Jazz Album and an additional award for Best Jazz Artist. Bassist Mackenzie Leighton is a bass player specializing in jazz and theater.
Monday, February 9, 2026
12 PM
Lesi Mei has been involved in many fields—such as bioengineering and kinesiology—but piano and classical music have molded her into the person she is. In front of the keys, her background and personality manifest in dazzling virtuosity and stunning musicality. Trevor Haumschilt-Rocha is emerging on international stages and is heralded for his "reverberant, expressive baritone with outstanding diction" (Opera News) and "confident, robust Italian singing" (Times Union).
Monday, February 16, 2026
There will be no mini-concert on Monday, January 19 in observance of President’s Day. Thank you for understanding, and see you next Monday!
Monday, February 23, 2026
12 PM
A musical prodigy born and raised in Italy, Chiara Capobianco began performing with orchestras touring all over Europe starting at age 15. Chiara studied classical piano, flute, and ballet before falling in love with the harp. Having lived abroad and performed across the globe, this international award-winning harpist is pleased to now call San Diego her home. Her eclectic musical talents along with her charming personality shine with local and global audiences alike.
Monday, March 2, 2026
12 PM
Born and raised in a musical family, Giorgia Renosto is an Italian vocalist who entered the artistic world at the young age of 14. Highly exposed to classical music and opera by her grandfather, a clarinet player, she enriched her musical background with jazz by starting her formal training in Torino, Italy. Her ability to focus on various types of vocal styles inside the extremely diverse world of Vocal Jazz allowed her to capture elements of vocal technique from different sources of inspiration and at 17, she was selected as one of the winners of the “Giovani Proposte” of the Italian contest “Sanremo Giovani.”