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 We are excited to present the 2025–2026 season of the Athenaeum’s Barbara and William Karatz Chamber Music Series, which features artists who have established themselves as favorites with our audiences and those we enthusiastically welcome for the first time. All concerts are preceded by a pre-concert talk at 6:45 p.m. and are followed by a reception with the artists.
Santiago Cañón-Valencia (cello) with Victor Santiago Asuncion (piano): Monday, October 20, 2025, 7:30 PM. Superstar cellist Santiago Cañón-Valencia returns to open our season with a dreamy duo program of French sonatas, unique transcriptions, and Stravinsky’s Suite Italienne (adapted from his ballet Pulcinella). Cañón-Valencia is a BBC Next Generation Artist and Tchaikovsky Competition silver medalist his skill is hailed by The Strad as “technically flawless … totally under the skin of the composers’ idioms.”
Maxwell String Quartet: Monday, November 17, 2025, 7:30 PM. A longtime favorite on the Athenaeum chamber music series, the Maxwell String Quartet returns with a colorful program that opens with their signature dose of Scottish folk tunes, followed by Edmund Finnis’s first quartet, a poetic work that draws inspiration from the choral music of William Byrd, which closes the first half in an arrangement by the Maxwell String Quartet. Brahms’s epic second quartet rounds out this exciting evening.
Andrés Cárdenes (violin), Steven Doane (cello), Ines Irawati (piano): 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.
Conor Hanick (piano): 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.
Diderot String Quartet: 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.
Artifex Consort: 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.
Presenter / Producer: Kate Hatmaker and Alex Greenbaum, Co-Directors of Chamber Music/Athenaeum Music & Arts Library
Listed Categories
Music > Classical
Music > International
Music > Chamber Music
Event Phone: 858-454-5872
Venue
Athenaeum Music & Arts Library
1008 Wall Street
La Jolla CA 92037
Regions:
San Diego
Performance Dates: 10/20/2025 - 5/4/2026
Monday, 10/20/2025
Monday, 11/17/2025
Monday, 02/23/2026
Monday, 03/16/2026
Tuesday, 04/14/2026
Monday, 05/04/2026
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Performance Times
CONCERTS BEGIN AT 7:30 PM.
PRE-CONCERT TALKS BEGIN AT 6:45 PM.
DOORS OPEN AT 6:15 PM.
Ticket Information:
INDIVIDUAL CONCERTS:
$58 member / $63 nonmember / $16 student
SERIES OF 6 CONCERTS:
$305 member / $336 nonmember / $89 student
Web Link for ticketing
Websites:
Event Information
Social Media or other Links:
https://www.facebook.com/athenaeum
https://www.instagram.com/athenaeummusicandarts/
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