Music Concert-Lecture with Daniel Beliavsky, solo piano | Athenaeum Music & Arts Library | La Jolla

Join us for a concert-lecture by pianist Daniel Beliavsky while he explores and performs well-known works by Chopin, Scriabin, Rachmaninoff, and Shostakovich. Through performance and discussion, Dr. Beliavsky will demonstrate how these artists, each inhabiting unique musical, philosophical, and political trajectories from periphery to mainstream, contributed enormously to the pillars of Western modernism.

Program:

Frédéric Chopin (1810–1849)

- "Nocturne" in E Minor, op. 72, no. 1 (1827)

- "Ballade No. 1" in G Minor, op. 23 (1835–1836)

- "Nocturne" in B Major, op. 32, no. 1 (1837)

- "Polonaise" in A-flat Major, op. 53, (“Heroic”) (1842)

Alexander Scriabin (1872–1915)

- "Étude" in C-sharp Minor, op. 2, no. 1 (1887)

- "Étude" in D-sharp Minor, op. 8, no. 12 (1894)

Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873–1943)

- "Prélude" in C-sharp Minor, op. 3, no. 2 (1892)

- "Prélude" in G Minor, op. 23, no. 5 (1901)

Dmitri Shostakovich (1906–1975)

- "Prélude and Fugue No. 1" in C Major, op. 87 (1950)

- "Prélude and Fugue No. 24" in D Minor, op. 87 (1951)

About Daniel Beliavsky

Daniel Beliavsky, Ph.D., is an educator, concert pianist, music theorist, composer, and filmmaker. He has performed in Europe and throughout the United States both with orchestra and in recital. Notable engagements include concerto performances with the Milwaukee and New Jersey Symphony Orchestras and the Moscow State Symphony Orchestra. His discography includes the world-premiere recording of composer Lukas Foss’s complete piano works, early works by Donald Harris and David Del Tredici, and music by J.S. Bach, Domenico Scarlatti, Franz Schubert, Frédéric Chopin, and Modest Mussorgsky. Beliavsky’s recordings are available on all major streaming services.

Beliavsky produces music documentaries through his production company, Opus1films, which in 2011 released "Sonata (1957)," a film about the distinguished American composer Donald Harris’s opus one, the Sonata for piano, and about Harris’s early career in Paris. That film was shown at Lincoln Center in New York City and was broadcast on public television. More recently, Beliavsky completed "Secret Music and Gay Body of Music," a feature film and a short film respectively, about Pulitzer Prize–winning composer David Del Tredici and the social and cultural impact of his music. These films have won multiple accolades and have been screened at film and music festivals, including QFest Houston, Berlin Shorts, and the Wisconsin Film, Mostly Modern Music, American Music, Lonely Seal International Film, Toronto LGBTQ+ Film, San Diego International Film, Rotterdam Independent Film, and San Francisco Arthouse Short Festivals. Recently, Secret Music was screened at Lehigh University and the University of Missouri–Kansas City.

Additionally, Beliavsky has been producing educational videos for the San Diego Opera on the operas the company is showcasing during the 2024–2025 and 2025–2026 seasons. These videos may be found on both the SDO’s and Beliavsky’s YouTube channels.

Now Chair of the Fine Art and Music Department at Yeshiva University in New York City, Beliavsky has been a visiting professor of music theory, piano performance, aesthetics, writing about music, and history at several universities, including The City College of New York, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, Stern College, Montclair State University, The New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music, Mannes College, and New York University.

Tickets: $35/$45/$12

The concert-lecture will be in person at the Athenaeum Music & Arts Library. There are no physical tickets for this event. Your name will be on an attendee list at the front door. Doors open at 7 p.m. Seating is first-come; first-served. Priority seating will be given to Donor level members and above.

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