Monday, April 29, 2024
12 PM

Long ago four people used to meet every year under a tree on top of Mount Palomar to sing madrigals. In 2003, it suddenly occurred to them that they could meet more frequently outside the context of the San Diego Early Music Society Workshop, and so they arranged to get together "down the mountain". They were joined by two more friends, and Courtly Noyse was born. This lively mix of personalities soon developed the blend of humor, imagination and versatility in the performance of Renaissance music that has become their trademark.

Monday, April 22, 2024
12 PM

Violinst Kenneth Liao will perform the first half of the program unaccompanied, and his San Diego Symphony violin colleague Igor Pandurski will join him for the second half, but on piano.

Monday, April 15, 2024
12 PM

Born in San Diego and raised also in Tijuana, Gabriella began her musical journey at a very young age performing at school concerts and as a member of the local church choir. She studied classical singing at the Conservatorio de la OBC in Tijuana after which she enrolled as a Dramatic Arts major and music minor at Mesa College in San Diego. Gabriella continued her theatrical studies in Madrid, Spain at the Escuela Superior de Artes y Espectaculos where she met and studied under renowned Spanish Zarzuela soprano Josefina Arregui. Some of her most influential teachers are Ignacio Clapes, Mary McKenzie, Ilia Aramayo and Roberto Coviello.

Monday, April 1, 2024
12 PM

Born in Moscow, Russia, Irina Bendetsky showed musical promise as a small child and at age four entered professional music school, where her teacher was a student of the famous piano pedagogue Heinrych Neigaus. After completing Gnessin College, she entered Gnessin Conservatory of Music.

Born in Prague, capital of Czech Republic (formerly part of Czechoslovakia), Ondrej Lewit started to study the violin at the age of seven at Elementary School of Music, later continued at State Conservatory of Music and obtained his MA degree graduating at Academy of Performing Arts.

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.

Monday, March 18, 2024
12 PM

Duo Decorus is a virtuoso ensemble comprised of violinist Päivikki Nykter and cellist Cecilia Kim. They are friends on and off stage, which is apparent in their seamless and graceful ensemble playing. This duo has delighted audiences with their performances since 2009. Recent appearances include Palomar College, San Diego State University, Point Loma Nazarene University, San Diego Mesa College and University of San Diego.

Monday, March 11, 2024
12 PM

Adam Wolff has been playing the piano for most of his life. Starting at the age of 8, he spent ten years studying classical piano performance, music theory, and creative music expression. Raised in New York and Chicago, he returned to New York City in the 80s and spent many years playing music full-time in Manhattan. While living in New York, Wolff studied with several great pianists: Barry Harris (Keeper of the Bebop Flame), Mike Longo (Musical Director for Dizzy Gillespie), and Kenny Werner (Author of Effortless Mastery and a global music legend). He also performed/recorded with many great jazz players including Victor Lewis, Calvin Hill, Rebecca Franks, and others. He was fortunate to record with two of Ahmad Jamal’s drummers: Vernel Fournier and Frank Gant. (Vernel Fournier is credited with developing the iconic drumbeat used in Jamal’s recording of “Poinciana” in the 1950s.) During this time, Wolff also taught music at the Johnny Colon School of Music in East Harlem, as well as playing in clubs, restaurants, cafes, and private engagements throughout the New York City region. In 1987, he was approached by Long Island University in Brooklyn and offered a full music scholarship. He received a degree with honors in 1990.

Monday, March 4, 2024
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, February 26, 2024
12 PM

Harpist Naomi Alter received her Bachelor of Music degree in harp at Oberlin Conservatory of Music under the tutelage of Alice Chalifoux. She has studied with Jeanne Chalifoux at the Salzedo Harp Colony in Maine, and at Tanglewood Music Festival in Massachusetts with Lucile Lawrence.

Randy Brinton will accompany Naomi on violin. Randy began violin in his public schools’ music programs. He attended San Diego State University where he earned a Bachelor of Music in Violin Performance. While a student there, he began his career with the San Diego Symphony. During a sabbatical leave he received a Masters in Orchestral Conducting from California State University, Long Beach.

Monday, February 19, 2024
12 PM

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.

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.

Monday, February 12, 2024
12 PM

Award-winning classical pianist Adam Hostomsky is dedicated to bringing deep insight and virtuoso fireworks to audiences in San Diego and the world. Adam was born in Prague, Czechoslovakia, and started playing piano at the age of 3 ½ under government tutelage. At age 8, his family settled in La Jolla and continued his musical development. He studied with Betty Oberacker at the University of California Santa Barbara and received a Master of Fine Arts in Piano Performance from the California Institute of Arts in 2005 where he studied with Peter Miyamoto and Liam Viney.

Monday, February 5, 2024
12 PM

Jazz singer Coral MacFarland Thuet sings fluently in Spanish, English, and Portuguese with a repertoire that combines jazz and Latin American music. Bob Boss will accompany Coral on guitar. Bob was encouraged to pick up an instrument at a young age by both of his parents and quickly gravitated towards the guitar when he received his first electric guitar, a Sears SIlvertone for just $30. Bob decided to leave his guitar behind when he left for college, but quickly found that he missed his instrument and began studying under Jerry Hahn.

Monday, January 29, 2024
12 PM

Rebecca is an accomplished singer/songwriter and has been able to turn her love for music into a career for close to two decades. Growing up in a musical home, she had been exposed at to a broad range of artists, genres and styles from her mother, who is also a vocalist. With such influences, it seems a natural progression that Rebecca has followed in her footsteps.

Monday, January 22, 2024
12 PM

Quartet Nouveau & Chamber Music Institute was formed as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization in January 2013 with the mission of making chamber music available to the entire San Diego community. Quartet Nouveau is a string quartet based in San Diego where all four musicians freelance and teach within the community. Known for their fresh approach to classical music, they hope to inspire students to play this very same music one day. The members of Quartet Nouveau all graduated from the nation's top universities with Master’s and Doctoral degrees. These musicians also perform with the San Diego Symphony, The California Chamber Orchestra, The Classics 4 Kids Philharmonic, La Jolla Playhouse, and the Old Globe. Quartet Nouveau has performed in school educational outreach concerts for students from kindergarten to high school throughout southern California.

Monday, January 15, 2024
12 PM

Mikan Zlatkovich is a natural jazz ambassador. He always presents himself with class and dignity and interacts with his audiences and his musicians with great passion and professional integrity. He deeply understands the power of music to transcend all language, race, and cultural barriers and to present a common ground where people of any age, race, or culture can enjoy and share the magic of jazz.

Ben Wanicur started playing the bass when he was 18 years old. He wanted to play drums in the high school jazz band, but there were too many drummers and zero bassists. He took home the school electric bass for the summer and he has not looked back since.

Monday, January 8, 2024
12 PM

Born and raised in Germany, Ulla Sinz began recorder studies at the age of 7 with Renate Stoltenberg at the Institute of Music Leverkusen (near Cologne). She performed with various recorder and mixed ensembles throughout Germany. Ulla won 3rd prize in the Young Musicians Competition (Jugend Musiziert). She continued musical training at the University of the Virgin Islands in Applied Reeds. Since immigrating to the United States, she has maintained a semi-professional status as a featured soloist as well as being a co-founder of various ensembles throughout the United States.

Cathe Sobke takes the term multi-instrumentalist to a new level! Ms. Sobke holds degrees in composition and music theory from SDSU. She grew up playing piano, clarinet, and guitar, and was introduced to early music during graduate studies about 25 years ago.

Monday, November 27, 2023
12 PM

Duo 彩 AYA, a dynamic collaboration between virtuoso players Rachel Woolf, flute, and Makana Jimbu, marimba, brings together two distinct musical voices across the globe to redefine the boundaries of chamber music. With Rachel based in the vibrant city of San Antonio, Texas, and Makana rooted in the bustling metropolis of Tokyo, Japan, their collaboration creates an electrifying musical partnership that resonates across cultures and continents.

Monday, November 20, 2023
12 PM

Kasey Kay has been a favorite at the Athenaeum Music & Arts Library for 12 years. This is her post-Covid debut in which she will be performing selections from composers Debussy, Beethoven, Chopin, Piazzolla and the Bach-Busoni Chaconne.

Monday, November 13, 2023
12 PM

Given 4 stars by Downbeat Magazine, multi-lingual vocalist/composer/educator Allison Adams Tucker began singing before she could speak, and has performed in many genres from a cappella to punk, folk, and jingles. In 2005 Allison fell in love with jazz and has gone on to release 4 critically acclaimed albums and 3 EPs: "Come With Me" (2008) nominated for Best Jazz Album 2009 by the San Diego Music Awards, "April in Paris" (2014) recorded in Paris on UNESCO's 1st Annual International Jazz Day, "Wanderlust" (2016) recorded in New York under GRAMMY-winning producer Matt Pierson featuring an all-star band, and "RETRO Trilogy" (2023) again with NYC producer Matt Pierson and another band of heavy hitters, rolled out as three EPs “1977”, “1988”, “1999”, and then as one album.

Monday, November 6, 2023
12 PM

Magazine “The Strad” wrote about the Cracow Duo: “Kalinowski and Szlezer, friends since childhood, have a wonderfully natural rapport and there is an arresting quality to their playing that gives life to the music.” They studied together in Cracow and Paris and began to perform together as Cracow Duo twenty years ago. Since that time their concerts and recordings received the highest critical acclaim in Poland and abroad with reviews in such media outlets as Polish National Radio, Slovenski Rozhlas, Radio Suddeutsche Rundfunk and important magazines and websites such as ClassiqueInfo, Classical Music Review, Res Musica, American Record Guide, Ruch Muzyczny, Twoja Muza, The Strad and Gramophone.

Monday, October 30, 2023
12 PM

Known for her expressivity, virtuosity, and versatility, Indonesian-born pianist Ines Irawati is in demand both as a solo recitalist and a collaborative pianist. Ms. Irawati is currently serving as the music and artistic director of San Diego Opera's Young Artist Training Program, as well as its community outreach concert series, Opera Exposed! Concerts. She has served as a vocal coach and pianist at the Institute for Young Dramatic Voices, and she was the head vocal coach and collaborative piano faculty at Point Loma Nazarene University from 2004–2017.

Monday, October 23, 2023
12 PM

Concert pianist Gustavo Romero is internationally renowned for his exceptional technical brilliance and interpretive depth and has gained an acclaimed reputation for his commitment to in-depth exploration of a wide variety of composers.

Monday, October 16, 2023
12 PM

Matthew Schoening was born into a musical family. His father was a violist in the San Francisco Symphony for over 40 years and his mother is a professional flautist. Matthew started playing cello at age 12 in his pubic school music program. After several years, Matthew bought his first looping pedal and started to write music using this technology. He fell in love with the innovation and complexity of musical repertoire he was able to create using this equipment. Matthew has an affinity for sound technology and has worked professionally as an audio/video consultant doing multi-million dollar installations for corporate clients.

Monday, October 9, 2023
12 PM

Eric Dickerson holds a Master's Degree in Music Performance from San Diego State University. With over 20 years of musical experience, Eric has committed himself to preserving the art of Historical Performance Practice, performing Early Music on  historical lutes, guitars and mandolin. 

Monday, October 2, 2023
12 PM

Adam Wolff has been playing the piano for most of his life. Starting at the age of 8, he spent ten years studying classical piano performance, music theory, and creative music expression. Raised in New York and Chicago, he returned to New York City in the 80s and spent many years playing music full-time in Manhattan. While living in New York, Wolff studied with several great pianists: Barry Harris (Keeper of the Bebop Flame), Mike Longo (Musical Director for Dizzy Gillespie), and Kenny Werner (Author of Effortless Mastery and a global music legend).

Monday, September 25, 2023
12 PM

Justin Grinnell is a San Diego-based freelance jazz bassist and music educator. Praised for her “expressive and captivating performance” (GRAMMY.com), bassist Kathryn Schulmeister brings radiant energy to her creative musical practice ranging from classical to experimental. 

Monday, September 18, 2023
12 PM

Eric Starr maintains a multi-faceted musical career as a faculty member at SDSU, Trombonist for Westwind Brass, Board member for San Diego New Music where he was previously Executive Director (2012–22), and Community Engagement Partner with Art of Elan. At SDSU, Eric serves as Studio Artist Teacher, Lecturer, Brass Coordinator, Internship Coordinator and Program Advisor for the Music, Entrepreneurship and Business degree where he directs the Brass Chamber Music program and co-directs the Experimental Music Ensemble. He was named “Most Influential Faculty” in 2018 and 2023.

Monday, September 11, 2023
12 PM

Malvyn Lai, 18 years old, began his piano studies at age 5 and currently studies with Prof. Ning An. At age 10, he made his orchestral debut with the Kostroma Symphony Orchestra in Russia. He has since performed with the Danube Symphony in Budapest, Hungary, Toruń Symphony Orchestra in Poland, Culver City Symphony in California, Grossmont College Symphony in San Diego, and Concert Festival Orchestra in Long Island, NY. He also received the honor of performing with the Temecula Valley Symphony three times from 2015–2017 as the winner of their Young Artist Competition.

Monday, May 15, 2023
12 PM

Flutist Carmen Maret and guitarist Andrew Bergeron of the Folias Duo are a married couple whose unique interpersonal performer-composer collaboration of twenty years breathes new life into classical music. Folias Duo melds characteristics of European classical music with jazz, world music, and improvisation into the rhythms, contours, and textures of their meticulously crafted and scenic music. As composers and performers, they continue to test the technical and sonic possibilities of the intimate flute and guitar combination. “These two artists are top talents, almost singular within contemporary flute and guitar ensembles” (Flutist Quarterly).