Pianist Cecil Lytle has been a San Diego presence for over four decades, a specialist in Liszt (he won First Prize in the Franz Liszt International Piano Competition), jazz, and 20th-century music. He appeared on Jazz at the Athenaeum in 1993, and this marks his first performance for our Chamber Music Series. His concert features music by two great piano virtuosos: Franz Liszt and Thomas “Fats” Waller.

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Cecil Lytle, piano

Athenaeum Music & Arts Library

Murals of La Jolla was conceived in 2010 to commission public art projects throughout La Jolla and to bring contemporary art into the community. An Art Advisory Committee, comprised of the heads of La Jolla's major visual arts organizations, invites an international roster of artists to create new artworks, all located on private property and privately funded.

Murals of La Jolla Guided Tour

The series concludes on March 2 with another local debut by the Oscar Peñas Quartet, featuring Oscar Peñas on guitar, Sara Caswell on violin, Motohito Fukushima on electric bass, and Richie Barshay on drums. Barcelona-native Peñas has released four jazz albums with Grammy winners Esperanza Spalding, Gil Goldstein, and Paquito D’Rivera. His latest recording, yet to be released, features legendary bassist Ron Carter. Downbeat wrote, “Oscar Peñas is a poet,” celebrating his “ability to bring together the strands of a broad cultural education—one encompassing classical studies as a teenager in Barcelona and jazz degrees at both Berklee College of Music and the New England Conservatory—in a seamless synthesis of musical idioms.” Esperanza Spalding commented, “Oscar is a beautiful player with a totally unique sense of sound and color in his writing.” And Gil Goldstein wrote, “Oscar Peñas has found a way to merge traditional Spanish music with jazz in a way that seems totally natural and fresh.” This concert is made possible with the support of Jazz Road, a national initiative of South Arts, funded by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation with additional support from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

Oscar Peñas Quartet

February 23 brings the San Diego debut of the San Francisco String Trio, featuring Bay Area-based artists Mimi Fox on guitar, Jeff Denson on bass and vocals, and Mads Tolling on violin. Denson is familiar to Athenaeum audiences from his past appearances with Parisian guitarist Romain Pilon and Brian Blade, with Lee Konitz, and with the multinational Minsarah Trio. He is joined in the San Francisco String trio by two-time Grammy winner Tolling and six-time DownBeat International Critics Poll winner Fox, who come together to create an eclectic, riveting mixture of beautiful and passionate music. Crossing every genre from tango to funk, gorgeous ballads to sizzling up-tempo originals, the San Francisco String Trio provides its audiences with a special musical experience that is both poignant and compelling. Downbeat praised the trio for its “masterful musicianship and innovative arrangements that combine elements of jazz, pop, country, rock, swing, and world music. 4 stars!” Guitar Player called them “undeniably transcendent players, arrangers, and composers.” JazzTimes celebrated guitarist Fox for her “remarkable artistry… virtuosity… and inherent musicality,” calling her a “guitarist’s guitarist.”

San Francisco String Trio

Francis Poulenc combined oboe, bassoon, and piano in his 1926 Trio. The Poulenc Trio was formed in 2003 to further explore this instrumentation. Since then, they have commissioned 20 works. The last time they played at the Athenaeum was in 2010, and they’ll bring some newly commissioned works along with their signature piece.

The Poulenc Trio

Free concerts at noon every other Monday from fall through spring . . . no wonder the Mini-Concerts are the longest-running and one of the most popular classical music series at the library! This series was founded by Glenna Hazleton in 1970 at the Athenaeum, and has been going strong ever since. The concerts feature both local and touring musicians, prize-winning students, university music faculty members, local chamber ensembles. . . and the repertoire also includes jazz, folk and world music. There are no reservations, no tickets . . . just line up at the side door of the Athenaeum before noon. (Donations are always welcome!) Mini-Concerts take place every other Monday at noon and last about an hour.

Sue Palmer, piano & Liz Ajuzie, vocals

February 6 brings two of today’s leading jazz guitarists from Brazil, Romero Lubambo and Chico Pinheiro, who united in September 2021 to record a duo album. Known to Athenaeum audiences from past appearances with Luciana Souza and Trio Da Paz, Lubambo has performed and recorded with many of the outstanding artists of our time, including a range spanning from Dianne Reeves, Michael Brecker, Wynton Marsalis, and Gal Costa to Yo-Yo Ma, Kathleen Battle, and Billie Eilish. Jazziz wrote, “Guitarist Romero Lubambo may be the best practitioner of his craft in the world today... [his] facility, creativity and energy are in a class all their own.” Downbeat commented, “Lubambo is by himself the equivalent of an entire samba band… He tosses melodies, bass lines and rhythms in the air like juggling clubs.” Chico Pinheiro is known to Athenaeum audiences from past appearances with fellow guitarist Anthony Wilson and as the leader of his own quintet with saxophonist Bob Mintzer. Guitar giant Pat Metheny wrote, “There are many incredible guitarists out there. On the top of that list, I'd include Chico Pinheiro.” The Boston Globe called him, “one of the brightest lights on today’s Brazilian jazz scene.”

Romero Lubambo / Chico Pinheiro

In 1890 Brahms retired from composing, but, after hearing the clarinetist Richard Mühlfeld, was inspired to write clarinet music. His Clarinet Quintet (1891) breathed new life into a neglected medium. Four years later the 20-year-old Black British composer Samuel Coleridge-Taylor wrote his Clarinet Quintet which combined the formal concern of Brahms with the rhythmic and harmonic influence of Dvorak. Rising clarinet star Max Opferkuch will perform with the Zelter String Quartet, winner of the 2021 Chesapeake Music International Chamber Music Competition.

Max Opferkuch, clarinet, and the Zelter Quartet

The series begins on February 1 with a rare US date by Austrian guitarist Wolfgang Muthspiel, joined by two of the top players in jazz, bassist Scott Colley and drummer Brian Blade. Muthspiel lives in Vienna and is considered one of the most influential guitarists of his generation. After studying at the New England Conservatory and the Berklee College of Music in Boston, he toured with the Gary Burton Quintet, establishing a wide reputation on the jazz scene. His recordings as a leader on the ECM Record label have featured collaborations with Ralph Towner, Brad Mehldau, Ambrose Akinmusire, and Larry Grenadier. He has also been a regularly sought-after sideman for artists such as Dave Liebman, Peter Erskine, Paul Motian, Gary Peacock, John Patitucci, and many more. Muthspiel’s latest album, Angular Blues, with Scott Colley and Brian Blade, was released in the spring of 2020. The Times (London) wrote, “…moods shift from sunny and pastoral through the sharper edges of the title track... The three play with a relaxed precision that comes from long hours at the bandstand together… an exercise in fine-spun lyricism with echoes of Scarlatti and Bach … a quietly impressive album.”

Athenaeum Music & Arts Library

May 23, 2022

Cecil Lytle, piano

Mar 30, 2022

Murals of La Jolla Guided Tour

Athenaeum Music & Arts Library