John Blacklow
Jonathan Karoly
Monday, June 8, 2026
12 PM
Acclaimed for his “powerful and eloquent” performances (New York Times), by the Washington Post for his “expert performance, sensitivity, virtuosity, and imagination,” pianist John Blacklow has been presented as a soloist and chamber musician in venues such as the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C.; Carnegie's Zankel Hall; in Amsterdam at the Concertgebouw; in Paris at Salle Gaveau, Louvre Auditorium and Cité de la Musique; the Konzerthaus in Berlin; in London at Royal Albert Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall, and Wigmore Hall; in Vienna at the Musikverein and Konzerthaus; in Brussels at the Palais des Beaux Arts and Royal Conservatoire; and the Mozarteum in Salzburg. Recently Albany Records released a disc of the complete Schumann sonatas for violin and piano with violinist Jennifer Frautschi, as well as an American Duos album consisting of five works by living American composers.
Blacklow has performed frequently as keyboardist with orchestras including Los Angeles Philharmonic, San Diego Symphony, and Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, under Esa-Pekka Salonen, Rafael Payare, Pierre Boulez, Leonard Slatkin, John Adams, Matthias Pintscher, and many others, and has been invited to perform on the Chicago Symphony Orchestra Chamber Music Series, the Los Angeles Philharmonic Chamber Music Society, and Princeton Sound Kitchen. He has recorded for Universal Music Inc., Albany Records, Bridge Records, and Deutsche Grammophon iTunes, and is a Steinway Concert Artist.
Cellist Jonathan Karoly is a native of Chicago, where he began studying the cello at the age of three. He has been a prize-winning cellist, pianist, and composer from an early age. Following his studies in Chicago and New York, Karoly graduated from the University of Southern California, where he was a pupil of Ronald Leonard. An avid chamber musician, Karoly has performed in many music festivals: Marlboro, Kingston, La Jolla Summerfest, Verbier, Sarasota, Music Academy of the West, the International Laureates Chamber Music Festival, and Aspen, where he was a fellowship recipient. He has also been a frequent performer on Musicians from Marlboro tours across the country, and was invited to perform several concerts of chamber works with Pierre Boulez at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall. Karoly has appeared in live radio broadcasts of solo recitals and chamber music performances.
An accomplished competition winner, Karoly took grand prize in the Pasadena Instrumental Competition and first prize in the Chicago Cello Society Competition. He has performed concertos with numerous orchestras, including the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and has been principal cellist of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago and the Debut Orchestra of Los Angeles, among others. In 2009, Karoly was the featured performer and actor in the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s Symphonies for Youth program entitled The Spirit of the Cello, which told a fictional story about Karoly’s cello. These performances were repeated in 2016.
Karoly has been a member of the Los Angeles Philharmonic since 1997.
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 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.