Pianist and Associate Professor Gwendolyn Mok to Showcase Pianos from the 1800s
Contact: Pat Lopes Harris, 408-656-6999
SAN JOSE, Calif., — At 7:30 p.m. Nov. 29 in the Music Concert Hall, San Jose State will present a Historic Piano Concert featuring pianist Gwendolyn Mok, San Francisco Symphony cellist David Goldblatt performing Beethoven’s Sonata in G minor, and faculty and students performing chamber works by Schubert, Bruch, Bach, Loeffler and Brahms.
Two authentic historic keyboards will be used at this concert: our most recent loan from world famous conductor Nicholas McGegan, an 1841 German Bosendorfer, and Gwendolyn Mok’s own 1875 French Erard Piano, on which she recorded the complete works of Maurice Ravel for MSR records.
The SJSU School of Music and Dance currently houses eight historic keyboards. In addition to the two mentioned above, the department has an 1861 Erard Concert Grand, 1871 Viennese Streicher, two harpsichords made by Robert Wilson modeled, and two Sabathil harpsichords. The Ira F. Brilliant Center for Beethoven Studies also houses historic keyboards including two fortepianos: an 1821 Broadwood and an 1827 Jakesch.
SJSU distinguishes itself as the only CSU campus that has a historic keyboard collection. Yale University in Connecticut is the only other university that has a musical instrument collection. Gwendolyn Mok, SJSU associate professor and coordinator of keyboard studies, brought her own 1875 Erard to the university in 2003 and since that time has built the collection of historic keyboards, all of which were donated. She uses these instruments regularly in her teaching and in performance.
The program for this concert will be:
- Beethoven Sonata in g minor for piano and cello
- Schubert Trout Quintet
- Loeffler Two Rhapsodies for Piano, Oboe and Viola
- Bruch Romanishe Melodie for Piano, Clarinet and Viola
- Brahms Trio in A minor for Piano, Clarinet and Cello
This concert is being sponsored by the Kurosawa Piano Music Foundation, an organization which promotes ensemble music with piano.Tickets are
$10 for adults, $5 for students.
For a preview of SJSU’s historic pianos visit:
San Jose State — Silicon Valley’s largest institution of higher learning with 27,400 students and 3,190 employees — is part of the California State University system. SJSU’s 154-acre downtown campus anchors the nation’s 10th largest city.