The 26th Athenaeum Summer Festival, a series of four concerts that will feature virtuoso pianist Gustavo Romero. Continuing a beloved tradition, this summer Gustavo Romero will celebrate and focus on the piano music of Sergei Rachmaninoff, including his preludes, etude-tableaux variations, and sonatas, accompanied by select pieces by his Russian contemporaries. For 25 years, the Athenaeum has presented unforgettable festivals featuring Gustavo Romero performing the complete piano repertoire of a specific composer. Whether you have been with us all 25 years or have yet to experience the wonder of this artist—who plays from memory—you will not want to miss our upcoming 26th Summer Festival.

Romero, a native San Diegan, with a heritage in Guadalajara, first performed at the Athenaeum Music & Arts Library as a young boy, and it was with him that the Athenaeum planned its first Summer Festival in 1999, the organization's 100th anniversary. Each year, Romero chooses composers to study in depth, sharing the full range of their artistry.

About Gustavo Romero: Concert pianist Gustavo Romero is internationally renowned for his exceptional technical brilliance and interpretive depth and has gained acclaim for his commitment to in-depth exploration of a wide variety of composers. 

Romero discovered his love and gift for the piano at age 5 and gave his first public performances at the age 10, when he also won his first piano competition. By age 13 he was performing with the New York Philharmonic under Zubin Mehta. Rudolf Serkin recognized his exceptional talent, and at age 14 Romero began attending The Juilliard School.

Romero has won many prizes, including first prize in the prestigious Clara Haskil International Piano Competition in Switzerland, the Avery Fisher Career Grant, and Musical America’s Young Artist Award. He has performed with the world’s leading orchestras—including the New York, Los Angeles, New Japan, Shanghai, Cape Town, and Liège Philharmonics; Atlanta, Houston, Pittsburgh, Honolulu, and New World Symphonies; and Boston Pops, English Chamber, Radio France, Russian Symphony, and Thailand Philharmonic  Orchestras. With the Philharmonia Hungarica Orchestra he performed in  a concert internationally televised from the United Nations.

Schedule:

Sunday, July 6, 2025

Program:

Dietrich Buxtehude (1637-1707)
arr. S. Prokofieff

Organ Prélude and Fugue in D Minor, BuxWV 140

Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873-1943)

Morceaux de fantaisie, op. 3

No. 3: Mélodie
No. 2: Prélude in C-sharp Minor
No. 1: Élégie
No. 4: Polichinelle

Alexander Scriabin (1872-1915)

Feuillet d’Album, op. 45, no.1

Poème, op. 32, no. 1, in F-sharp Major

2 Poèmes, op. 69

Sonata no. 4 in F-sharp Major, op. 30                                                               

Andante
Prestissimo volando

Intermission

Sergei Rachmaninoff

Variations on a Theme by Chopin, op.22

Sunday, July 13, 2025

Program:

J.S. Bach (1685-1750)
arr. Alexander Siloti

Bach-Siloti Prélude in G Minor, BWV 535

Pyotyr Tchaikovsky (1840-1893)

Nocturne in C-sharp Minor, op. 19, no. 4

Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873-1943)

Moments Musicaux, op. 16

No. 1: Andantino in B-flat Minor
No. 3: Andante cantabile in B Minor
No. 5: Adagio sostenuto in D-flat Major

Prelude op. 23, no. 5: G Minor

Études-Tableaux, op. 33

No. 2: C Major
No. 8 (9): C-sharp Minor
No. 6: E-flat Major

Intermission

Sergei Rachmaninoff

Préludes

Op. 32, no. 5: G Major
Op. 32, no. 10: B Minor
Op. 32, no. 12: G-sharp Minor

Sergei Prokofieff (1891-1953)

Sonata No. 7 in B-flat Major, op. 83

Allegro inquieto
Andante caloroso
Precipitato

Sunday, July 20, 2025

Program:

J.S. Bach (1685-1750)
arr. Alexander Siloti

Prélude in E Minor, BWV 555

Anton Rubinstein (1829-1894)

Rêve angélique, op. 10, no. 22

Alexander Scriabin (1872-1915)

Préludes                         

Op. 11, no. 21, in B-flat Major    
Op. 16, no. 1, in B Major
Op. 11, no. 20, in C Minor
Op. 17, no. 3, in D-flat Major
Op. 22, no. 1, in G-sharp Minor
Op. 11, no. 14, in E-flat Minor
Op. 15, no. 4, in E Major
Op. 11, no. 8, in F-sharp Minor
Op. 11, no. 12, in G-sharp Minor
Op. 11, no. 7, in A Major

Études

Op. 2, no. 1, in C-sharp Minor
Op. 8, no. 1, in C-sharp Minor
Op. 8, no. 2, in F-sharp Minor
Op. 8, no. 8, in A-flat Major
Op. 8, no. 11, in B-flat Minor
Op. 8, no. 12, in D-sharp Minor

Intermission

Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873-1943)

Études-Tableaux, op. 39

No. 2, in C Major
No. 7, in E-flat Major
No. 8, in C Minor
No. 9, in C-sharp Major

Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971)
arr. Guido Agosti

The Firebird Suite

Danse infernale
Berceuse
Finale 

Sunday, July 27, 2025

Program:

J.S. Bach (1685-1750)
arr. Alexander Siloti

Air, from the Orchestral Suite in D Major, BWV 1068

Prélude in B Minor, BWV 855a

Anton Arensky (1861-1906)

Élégie in G Minor, op. 36, no. 16

Nikolai Medtner (1880-1951)

Canzona Serenata, op. 38, no. 6

Modest Mussorgsky (1839-1881)

Pictures at an Exhibition

Promenade I
Gnomus (Gnomes)
Promenade II
The Old Castle
Promenade III
Tuileries
Bydlo
Promenade IV
Ballet of the Chicks in their Shells
Samuel Goldenberg and Schmuyle
Limoges: The Market Place
Catacombae (Catacombs)
Con mortuis in lingua mortua
The Hut on Fowl’s Legs (The Hut of Baba Yaga)
The Great Gate of Kiev

Intermission

Pyotyr Tchaikovsky (1840-1893)

Romance in F Minor, op. 5

Sergei Rachmaninoff

Sonata no. 2 in B-flat Minor, op. 36

Allegro
Non allegro-Lento
Allegro molto

Date: 
Sundays, July 6, 13, 20 & 27, 2025

Time:
Concerts Begin at 4 pm
Doors open at 3:30 pm

Location:
Athenaeum Music & Arts Library,
Joan and Irwin Jacobs Music Room,
1008 Wall Street,
La Jolla, CA 92037.

Tickets:
Individual Concerts: 
$50 member / $55 nonmember

Series of 4 Concerts: 
$192 member / $212 nonmember

Individual Concert With Dinner:
$200

Series of 4 Concerts With 2 Dinners (July 6 & 27):
$450

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