Tickets

Friday, December 5, 2025
7:30 PM

*AT THE ATHENAEUM MUSIC & ARTS LIBRARY*

The fall series concludes on Friday, December 5, with Matt Wilson’s Christmas Tree-O. Described as “An ambassador of good feeling” (New York Times), drummer Matt Wilson is one of the most in-demand musicians in jazz. He presents this joyous trio project celebrating the holiday season with his own characteristically humorous and at times eccentric sendups of holiday classics. The band, now in its 25th year, features sax virtuoso Jeff Lederer and bassist Paul Sikivie. Wilson’s greatest gift is his knack for invention and the unbridled sense of fun he brings to the bandstand—a perfect combination for the holiday season. As The New York Times remarked, “Wonder and innocence, gaudiness and cheer: can it be any surprise that the jazz drummer Matt Wilson thrives around the holidays?”

Thursday, January 8, 2026
7:30 PM

Liebestod—myths of love and death
—World premieres by Alyssa Aska and Franklin Cox
—Music by Chaya Czernowin, Alexandra Gardner, Zosha DiCastri, and Benjamin Britten

January 8, 9 & 10, 2026
7:30 PM

The annual soundON Festival returns! Presented by San Diego New Music and the Athenaeum Music & Arts Library, this year’s lineup showcases cutting-edge contemporary music by a global roster of composers, along with music by friends of the festival, such as Juan Campoverde Q.

Friday, January 9, 2026
7:30 PM

Body and Soul—Memory, Contemplation, and Expectation  
—World premiere by Sidney Marquez Boquiren
—Music by Michael Gordon, David Lang, Vicky Ray, and Michael Jarrell

Saturday, January 10, 2026
7:30 PM

Mythologies—searching for and seeing ourselves             
—World premieres by Juan Campoverde Q., Lukas Schulze, and Sidney Marquez Boquiren
—Music by Yu-hui Chang and  Salvatore Sciarrino

Monday, February 23, 2026
7:30 PM

This special “lineage” program combines world-class performers and pedagogues in their debut performance as a trio, featuring romantic lyricism alongside playful folk melodies, culminating in Dvorak’s always riveting “Dumky” piano trio.

Tuesday, March 3, 2026
7:30 PM

Images of the Buddha are among the most widely distributed religious representations. While the Buddha himself was South Asian, the origins of the image of the Buddha remain something of a paradox. The earliest descriptions of him were extraordinary, but Indian Buddhists curiously decided not to represent the Buddha as a human figure for some centuries, only denoting him by symbols. Around the beginning of the Common Era, two traditions of the Buddha image suddenly emerged, essentially fully developed from the schools of Mathurā in North India and of Gandhāra, bordering Central Asia. What had happened to make this dramatic change palatable to the Buddhist communities in India and Central Asia? We will look at images of the Buddha configured by Alexander the Great’s incursions, by image-driven forms of prevailing religion in India, temples to Central Asian kings, and North Indian spirit cults. Working through these influences—and more—the Buddhists managed to convey the Buddha’s sense of spirituality and interiority, spreading a legacy across Asia.

Monday, March 16, 2026
7:30 PM

We eagerly welcome pianist Conor Hanick to the Athenaeum for the first time for 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. 

Tuesday, April 14, 2026
7:30 PM

The Diderot String Quartet will make their Athenaeum debut with a journey to 18th century Vienna, featuring masterpieces by Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven. One of the premiere ensembles performing on gut strings and historical instruments, this dynamic group (Adriane Post, violin; Johanna Novom, violin; Kyle Miller, viola; Paul Dwyer, cello) breathes new life into old works.

Monday, May 4, 2026
7:30 PM

Specializing in the rich and varied “sound-world” of the late 17th century, the Artifex Consort (Malachai Komanoff Bandy, Rebecca Landell, and Eva Lymenstull, bass viols; John Lenti, theorbo; Ian Pritchard, keyboards) closes our season with works showcasing the viola da gamba as an ensemble instrument outside of the English consort tradition, during the height of its later flourishing in parts of England and Germany. The program features virtuosic music for two bass viols by Christopher Simpson and Johannes Schenck, alongside lush and ingenious—though little-known—works for three bass viols by Benjamin Hely and Johann Michael Nicolai.