Upcoming Events

Beethoven's Chamber Music Exhibit

January 17 - April 15, 2023
Special Collections Hall Exhibit and Beethoven Center
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Library, 5th floor

Chamber Music scene

An exhibit celebrating Beethoven's chamber music featuring items from the collection of the Ira F. Brilliant Center for Beethoven Studies.

Funded by the SJSU College of Humanities and the Arts

Special thanks to the American Beethoven Society and Galen Lemmon


37th Annual Celia Mendez Young Pianists’ Beethoven Competition

March 25, 2023
10:00 am to 12:30 pm
SJSU Concert Hall

Join us for the final round of our 37th annual competition for young pianists. Six finalists will perform a complete piano sonata by Beethoven.

This event is free and open to the public.


Beethoven Center Noontime Concerts

April 6, 2023
12:00 pm - 12:45 pm
MLK Library, Room 113 (off the main atrium)
Free admission

Ludwig van Beethoven, String Quartet in C Minor, op. 18 no. 4

Bill Palmer and Erica Buurman, violins

Noriko Iwamoto, viola

John Rosenman, cello

The second of this spring’s Beethoven Center Concert Series features the composer’s String Quartet in C Minor, op. 18 no. 4, a perennial audience favorite and an example of the composer’s famous “C minor mood.” The performance will be preceded by a short lecture on the work’s history and significance by Dr. Erica Buurman (Director, Beethoven Center).


Beethoven Center Noontime Concerts

May 4, 2023
12:00 pm - 12:45 pm
MLK Library, Room 113 (off the main atrium)
Free admission

Ludwig van Beethoven, String Quartet in A Major, op. 18 no. 5

Daniel Cher and Erica Buurman, violins

Bill Palmer, viola

Irene Herrmann, cello

In the final event of our spring Beethoven Center Concert Series, a quartet of local musicians performs Beethoven’s String Quartet in A Major, op. 18 no. 5, a work clearly inspired by Mozart. Includes a short talk by the Center’s Director, Dr. Erica Buurman.