With little fanfare and many devotees, the 12-year-old Athenaeum Music and Arts Library’s annual composer-centered, mini-festival of music has begun. As it has since its 1999 inception, the July summer festival has featured Mexican-American pianist Gustavo Romero, who was born in San Diego and raised in Chula Vista. He made his first public appearance at the Athenaeum, studied with the late Ilana Mysior and was packed off to Juilliard School of Music when he was still in his teens, supported by local music patrons. Following his graduation from Juilliard in 1983, he received the prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant. Six years later, he was the recipient of the first prize in the Clara Haskil International Piano Competition in Switzerland. Currently, he is professor of piano at the University of North Texas and plays in recitals and concerts worldwide. In honor of Frederic Chopin’s bicentennial, Romero plays Chopin in the Athenaeum’s 2010 Summer Festival, heard by La Jolla Village News Sunday, July 18, played to a capacity audience at the Neurosciences Institute. As always, Romero projects serenity as he takes the stage attired in customary black trousers and casual shirt. In the Neurosciences’ excellent, lively acoustics, his playing is an entire orchestra of sound, the dynamic ranging from flawlessly executed filigree-like runs to the immense, room-shaking climaxes for which Chopin is known. At times, it seems there is timpani hidden in the Steinway’s lower register. His playing of the two Polonaises, Op. 26, displayed great feel for the individual structures and how their ebb and flow are integrated to make up the shape of the entire. The phrase that comes to mind is: making method of works Chopin designed to seem random. In addition to the aforementioned Polonaises, the program comprised Nocturne, Op. 62, No. 2; Polonaise-Fantasie in A-flat major, Op. 61; Fantasie in F minor, Op. 49; and four Scherzos, No 1 in B minor, No. 2 in B-flat minor, No. 3 in C-sharp minor, and No. 4 in E major. A personal favorite because of its distinctive descending intervals, Scherzo No. 1 was emotively, yet restrainedly performed — perhaps Romero’s signature. The final piece, Scherzo No. 2, was perhaps the most familiar of all those programmed, and yet, it too belonged to the pianist, who has ripened into fascinating maturity. Rewarded by an enthusiastic standing ovation, Romero graciously provided two encores, Chopin’s Nocturne in C-sharp minor, posthumous; and a piece by Turkish composer Fazil Say titled “Kara Toprak — Black Earth.” The festival continues at 4 p.m. Sundays, July 25 and Aug. 1. For information go to www.ljathenaeum.org and for ticket availability phone (858) 454-5872.