JAZZ & NEW MUSIC CONCERTS
Jazz, Chamber, New Music & Acoustics
Valentine’s Day brings a special appearance by a favorite Athenaeum performer, Anat Cohen, with Quartetinho. The band plays two separate 75-minute performances, one at 6 p.m. and the other at 8:30 p.m. The word quartetinho is Portuguese for “little quartet,” although the players make a big, color-rich sound, each an ace on multiple instruments. Also, Norway’s Tord Gustavsen Trio returns, featuring Gustavsen on piano, Steinar Raknes on bass, and Jarle Vespestad on drums. They unite beauty and emotional intensity in a unique, immediately identifiable Nordic jazz sound that has established Gustavsen as Scandinavia's leading jazz artist.
CHAMBER CONCERTS
Jazz, Chamber, New Music & Acoustics
In the Karatz Chamber Music Series, enjoy a special “lineage” program by Andrés Cárdenes (violin), Steven Doane (cello), Ines Irawati (piano), featuring romantic lyricism alongside playful folk melodies, culminating in Dvořák’s riveting “Dumky” piano trio. Also, pianist Conor Hanick will perform an adventurous solo recital featuring Charles Ives’s monumental first sonata and two Schubert Impromptus paired with a new revision of Samuel Carl Adams’s Three Impromptus (a West Coast premiere) inspired by Schubert.
ART CLASSES & LITERARY CLASSES
Winter 2026 Session
Winter art classes are available! Discover Abstract Figuration with Lisa Bebi in the AAC Art Studio. Create Pocket Shrines with Robin Roberts and explore Creative Freedom in Acrylics with Stan Goudey in the La Jolla Studio. Make Movable Books: Pop-ups and Flexagons and enjoy Transforming Paper: Creative Techniques for Embellishing Surfaces with Judith Christensen in the AAC Print Room. Join School of the Arts Book Club with Anna DiMartino in the library. Register today!
The Athenaeum offers a wealth of resources that are unique to this region. The library, devoted exclusively to music and art, has an outstanding and ever-expanding collection of books, periodicals, reference material, CDs, DVDs, sheet music, and librettos, as well as one of the most significant collections of artists' books in Southern California. Members have access to a wide variety of materials that range from rare, historic items to the latest in video technology.
Explore the concerts and lectures the Athenaeum has to offer. Enjoy intimate jazz, chamber, and new music concerts, as well as artists’ talks, art history lectures, and music lectures.
The Athenaeum Art Center (AAC) in Logan Heights has four exhibition spaces, an event space, a fully equipped print studio, a kiln, and art studio. It offers a unique set of bilingual programming that includes the exhibition of national and international artists, music concerts showcasing the distinct sounds of our binational region, participation in community festivities, free after-school art programs, art classes, and a variety of unique experiences in collaboration with local organizations.
Exhibitions
The Athenaeum is pleased to announce Dar(r)en Bader at the Athenaeum, on view this winter and spring. People sometimes have the same name. As an imperfect example of this phenomenon, this exhibition will pair two Baders: Daren and Darren. The two have never met in person but have been in contact—on and off—since 2013. Both have intimate relationships to San Diego and art making. This exhibition will bring about their first in-person meeting and a co-curated confluence of contrasting approaches to crafting art.
The show will be on display in the Joseph Clayes III Gallery and the Carolyn Yorston-Wellcome Rotunda Gallery from January 24 through April 25, 2026.
Murals of La Jolla is a project of the Athenaeum. The mural project enhances the civic character and vitality of the community by commissioning public art projects on private property throughout La Jolla. Each work is on view for a minimum of two years. Since 2010, thirty-seven large-scale artworks have appeared in a variety of locations throughout the village of La Jolla, some prominently displayed while others are tucked away in more discreet locations.
The Athenaeum's
Erika & Fred Torri
Artists’ Books Collection
Artists' books are works of art in book form. They are published in small editions or as one-of-a-kind objects. The Athenaeum's artists' books collection has become one of the most important collections in its holdings and is a driving force in the library's development. Among its holdings, it contains the complete collection of artists' books by Ed Ruscha, Ida Applebroog, Allen Ruppersberg, John Baldessari, Bruce Nauman, and other artists.
Join the Athenaeum
Becoming a member is the best way to enjoy everything that the Athenaeum Music & Arts Library—San Diego's only membership library—has to offer. For only $50 a year, members may check out materials from the library, receive exclusive discounts on our programs, and more! An Athenaeum Music & Arts Library membership supports art and music in San Diego.
The Athenaeum is supported by members like you!
