Monday, April 14, 2025
7:30 PM

The waning days of the Austro-Hungarian Empire coincided with a flourishing of Belle Époque artistic expressions in Eastern Europe. By the mid-1890s, the experimental Vienna Secession advocated for integrated design, while the “Wagner School” (named after Otto Koloman Wagner) supported a modern architecture where form followed function. Rebuilding, due to modernization, of Vienna led to entire sections of the city built in the Art Nouveau style.  Artisans of the Wiener Werkstätte (Viennese Workshops) influenced the later Bauhaus, American Art Deco, Scandinavian Modernism, and Italian Craft and Design.

Monday, April 14, 2025
12 PM

Seaside Quartetis a virtuoso ensemble comprised of pianist Brenda Martin, violinist Philip Tyler, violinist/violist Päivikki Nykter and cellist Cecilia Kim. They are friends on and off stage, which is apparent in their seamless and graceful ensemble playing. Their deep love and desire to play chamber music was the main reason to form this quartet and take time from their busy schedules to make beautiful music together. Their collaboration and exquisite musical taste has produced highly acclaimed performances in San Diego area. Brenda and Phil serve as professors at the Point Loma University Music Department and Päivikki and Cecilia and freelance musicians.

Saturday, April 12, 2025
5:30–6 PM members-only reception;6 PM general reception; 6:30 PM lecture

Please join us for an artist talk with Yang Jiang. She will share a special presentation on her Athenaeum show, I thought I’d Be Braver, and how it connects to her career and process. A members-only reception will take place from 5:30–6:00 p.m. The reception for all ticketholders will take place at 6:00 p.m., followed by a lecture at 6:30 p.m.

Friday, April 11, 2025
4 PM

Free Art Classes for Teens (13–18 years old) 

Free Teen Art, the Athenaeum’s free program for teens offers a rotation of multidisciplinary art instructors and curricular activities involving the use of the Athenaeum library resources and art exhibitions as starting points for projects.

Friday, April 11, 2025
3 & 3:30 PM

Bring your children or grandchildren to the Athenaeum's free Children's Storytime at 3 and 3:30 p.m. on Fridays. Great for children ages 1 through 9. This is a free event. Reservations are not necessary.

Wednesday, April 9, 2025
7:30 PM

*AT SCRIPPS RESEARCH AUDITORIUM*
The series continues on Wednesday, April 9, at Scripps Research with the Bill Frisell Trio, featuring Frisell on guitar, Thomas Morgan on bass, and Rudy Royston on drums. Frisell’s career as a guitarist and composer has spanned more than 40 years and many celebrated recordings. Recognized as one of America’s most vital and productive performing artists, Frisell has contributed to the work of a staggering array of collaborators, including Paul Motian, John Zorn, Elvis Costello, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Rickie Lee Jones, Vinicius Cantuária, Marianne Faithfull, John Scofield, Bono, and Brian Eno, to name only a few. This work has established Frisell as one of the most sought-after guitar voices in contemporary music.

Wednesday, April 9, 2025
3 & 3:30 PM

Bring your children or grandchildren to the Athenaeum's free Children's Storytime at 3 and 3:30 p.m. on Wednesdays. Great for children ages 1 through 9. This is a free event. Reservations are not necessary.

Tuesday, April 8, 2025
7:30 PM

The series continues Tuesday, April 8, with members of the Great Wall String Quartet performing a program of Beethoven, Mozart, Schubert, and Piazzolla. Its members share a vision to connect with more immediacy to audiences and to give guidance to the next generation of chamber musicians. Violinist Qi Zhou is a member of the prestigious chamber orchestra Philharmonisches Kammerorchester Muenchen. Xu Wenbo is the current viola and chamber music instructor at the North German Radio Symphony Orchestra Academy in Hamburg. Hailed in New York Concert Review as “a superb cellist with intense and sensuous sound,” Yao Zhao performs with a dynamism that has secured him a successful career as the principal cello of the San Diego Symphony Orchestra.

Monday, April 7, 2025
7:30 PM

The style gained popularity through exposure at the Paris Exposition. French architects Hector Guimard, Jules Lavirotte, and Frantz Jourdain experimented with optics, transparency, motion, and point of view. Decorative artists, like Louis Majorelle, Emile Gallé, and Georges de Feure, contributed furniture, glass, and metalwork that integrated into the overall design, while jewelry, paintings, and poster design continued to use Art Nouveau techniques independent of architecture. 

Monday, April 7, 2025
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.

Sunday, April 6, 2025
9 AM–1 PM

We invite you to stop by the Athenaeum’s booth at the La Jolla Open Aire Market held on Sundays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.!  There you will find, in addition to Athenaeum publications and artists’ notecards for sale, friendly staff and volunteers ready to chat with you and to tell you about the Athenaeum’s latest news and upcoming events. The market is located at the La Jolla Elementary School, 7335 Girard Avenue. We look forward to seeing you there!

Saturday, April 5, 2025
10 AM–4 PM

The Saturday, March 22, Quarterly Book Sale has been postponed to Saturday, April 5. Get a gift for a friend or yourself at the Athenaeum's quarterly book sale on our patio! As usual, we will have a large selection of gently used books, CDs, vinyl LPs, and sheet music. Hundreds of recordings of classical, jazz, and popular music are just $1 per disc, making this a music lover’s paradise.

Friday, April 4, 2025
6 PM

Join us for ¡HOLA OLA! Bilingual & All Genres Open Mic & Showcase at the Athenaeum Art Center. Each act gets a four-minute spotlight to share your poetry, music, comedy, or any creative expression. Our host, Lucia (@luzzyluce), will be guiding the fun! This free event welcomes everyone in our vibrant, inclusive border town space—celebrating la vida fronteriza in a seamless blend of English and Spanish.

Friday, April 4, 2025
4 PM

Free Art Classes for Teens (13–18 years old) 

Free Teen Art, the Athenaeum’s free program for teens offers a rotation of multidisciplinary art instructors and curricular activities involving the use of the Athenaeum library resources and art exhibitions as starting points for projects.

Friday, April 4, 2025
3 & 3:30 PM

Bring your children or grandchildren to the Athenaeum's free Children's Storytime at 3 and 3:30 p.m. on Fridays. Great for children ages 1 through 9. This is a free event. Reservations are not necessary.

Wednesday, April 2, 2025
3 & 3:30 PM

Bring your children or grandchildren to the Athenaeum's free Children's Storytime at 3 and 3:30 p.m. on Wednesdays. Great for children ages 1 through 9. This is a free event. Reservations are not necessary.

Wednesday, April 2, 2025
10:30 AM

The Athenaeum Music & Arts Library is thrilled to announce its newest offering for young families: Creative Storytime with Ms. Katia. This new program, held on the first Wednesday of each month at 10:30 AM, is designed to introduce children to the magic of storytelling while fostering an early love for music, art, and literature.

Monday, March 31, April 7, 14 & 21, 2025
7:30 PM

The international art movement known as Art Nouveau flourished from the early 1890s to 1914. Rejecting historical references and traditional geometric forms, it featured florid vegetation, sinuous lines, and asymmetry. Although the design approach encompassed all visual art forms, it was most prevalent in architecture and the decorative arts. Furniture, mirrors, metalwork, art glass, carved plaster, and intricate paneling all featured the signature “whiplash” lines of Art Nouveau. Originating in Brussels, and highlighted in the Exposition Universelle of 1900 (better known in English as the 1900 Paris Exposition), the style is strongly associated with the wealthy and fashionable.

Monday, March 31, 2025
7:30 PM

Meet Victor Horta, Paul Hankar, and Henri van de Velde who originated the Art Nouveau style in Brussels. The movement elevated “craft” to an “art” and unified all art forms. In using modern materials and construction techniques, it eliminated historicism while emphasizing nature and movement through use of the whiplash line. Open floor plans and expansive use of glass, mirrors, and electricity brought transparency and spatial fluidity to once dark and constricted interiors. 

Monday, March 31, 2025
12 PM

Violinst Kenneth Liao will perform with his San Diego Symphony violin colleague Igor Pandurski, who will join him on piano. Violinist Kenneth Liao joined the San Diego Symphony in 2019 after spending two seasons as a Fellow with the New World Symphony. Born in Maryland, Mr. Liao received his Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Southern California, where he studied with Midori Goto, and subsequently completed a Master of Music degree at The Juilliard School under the tutelage of David Chan.

Friday, March 28, 2025
3 & 3:30 PM

Bring your children or grandchildren to the Athenaeum's free Children's Storytime at 3 and 3:30 p.m. on Fridays. Great for children ages 1 through 9. This is a free event. Reservations are not necessary.

Thursday, March 27, 7:30 PM—Omar Sosa Quarteto Americanos (at Scripps Research)
Wednesday, April 9, 7:30 PM—Bill Frisell Trio (at Scripps Research)
Thursday, April 24, 7:30 PM—Ben Wendel Quartet (at the Athenaeum)
7:30 PM

We are pleased to announce the return of the Athenaeum Jazz series to the Scripps Research Auditorium (10620 John Jay Hopkins Drive, north of Genesee Avenue in Torrey Pines Mesa) for two out of three concerts in our annual spring series. Seating is limited for all three evenings, so early reservations are advised. Please join us for these three special performances featuring internationally acclaimed jazz artists Omar Sosa, Bill Frisell, and Ben Wendel.

Thursday, March 27, 2025
7:30 PM

*AT SCRIPPS RESEARCH AUDITORIUM*
The spring series opens on Thursday, March 27, at Scripps Research with a long-anticipated local debut as a leader of acclaimed Cuban composer-pianist-bandleader Omar Sosa and his Quarteto Americanos, featuring Josh Jones on drums, Ernesto Mazar Kindelán on bass, and Sheldon Brown on sax, clarinet, and flute. Sosa is widely celebrated as one of the most versatile jazz artists on the scene today. His musical trajectory traces the African diaspora from Cuba to Brazil; from Central America to Ecuador’s African-descent communities; from San Francisco and New York to his current home base in Barcelona. True to his Afro-Cuban origins, Sosa fashions a spirited vision of uncompromising artistic generosity that embraces humanity at large. Nominated for seven Grammy Awards and twice for the BBC World Music Awards, Sosa received a lifetime achievement award from the Smithsonian Associates in Washington, D.C., for his contribution to the development of Latin jazz in the United States. 

Thursday, March 27, 2025
7:30 PM

Southern California’s outrageous and fun art scene exploded in the postwar years parallel with California’s wine-world arrival. Join us for a dive into the era when Southern California art and wine became oh so cool.

Wednesday, March 26, 2025
5:30 PM

Walking tours leave from the Athenaeum at 5:30 p.m. Tours are free and registration is required. Tours are limited to a maximum of 35 guests and last for approximately 90 minutes.

Wednesday, March 26, 2025
3 & 3:30 PM

Bring your children or grandchildren to the Athenaeum's free Children's Storytime at 3 and 3:30 p.m. on Wednesdays. Great for children ages 1 through 9. This is a free event. Reservations are not necessary.

Monday, March 24, 2025
12 PM

Joshua White is one of the music scene’s most creative and technically accomplished pianists. Praised by legendary musicians like Herbie Hancock as having “immense talent” and lauded for his “daring and courageous approach to improvisation … on the cutting edge of innovation,” Joshua has distinguished himself as a formidable leader of distinct voice among his peers.

Opening Reception: Saturday, March 22, 5–8 PM
March 22–May 10, 2025

I Thought I’d Be Braver, Jiang’s debut solo exhibition, is a decade-long chronicle of her journey toward emotional courage. Her early work, characterized by bold colors and harsh textures, reflects the pain of repressed emotions and a fear of vulnerability. Gradually, this aesthetic softens into one of sheer, vibrant hues and delicate layers, mirroring her internal shift toward nurturance, forgiveness, and compassion. A testament to the beauty and complexity of spiritual survival, Jiang’s work offers viewers a poignant reminder of the courage and tenderness of the human heart.

Saturday, March 22, 2025

The Saturday, March 22, Quarterly Book Sale has been postponed to Saturday, April 5. Get a gift for a friend or yourself at the Athenaeum's quarterly book sale on our patio! As usual, we will have a large selection of gently used books, CDs, vinyl LPs, and sheet music. Hundreds of recordings of classical, jazz, and popular music are just $1 per disc, making this a music lover’s paradise.

Friday, March 21, 2025
3 & 3:30 PM

Bring your children or grandchildren to the Athenaeum's free Children's Storytime at 3 and 3:30 p.m. on Fridays. Great for children ages 1 through 9. This is a free event. Reservations are not necessary.