Pianist Launches New CD

Pianist Gwendolyn Mok will appear in concert April 15 to benefit the Historic Keyboard Collection in the School of Music and Dance (photo courtesy of Gwendolyn Mok).

On Monday, April 15, pianist Gwendolyn Mok will be joined by voice and string faculty from the School of Music and Dance to celebrate the launch of her latest solo CD, Brahms, The Composer’s Piano, Late Piano Works Opp 116-119. The works were recorded on two historic pianos from Brahms’ time and are similar to ones that the composer played. The program includes waltzes for piano four-hands, the complete Liebesleider for four voices and piano four-hands, and the magnificent Trio in B major, Opus 8, all performed on the 1868 Erard Grand and 1871 Streicher Grand.

The concert will begin at 8 p.m. April 15 at the Music Concert Hall. General admission tickets will be $20, and $10 for students. The evening is a benefit for the Historic Keyboard Collection in the School of Music and Dance at San Jose State University, where Mok is coordinator of keyboard studies. Her earlier solo CD Ravel Revealed, the complete solo works of Maurice Ravel recorded on the 1868 Erard, is frequently broadcasted on radio stations locally and around the world. Both the Brahms and the Ravel CDs are on the Musicians Showcase Recording label.

Born in New York City, Mok has appeared in many of the world’s leading concert halls, including The Barbican, Carnegie Hall, The Kennedy Center, Avery Fisher Hall, Alice Tully Hall, Davies Symphony Hall, and The Hong Kong Performing Arts Center. She is frequently invited to play and record with major international orchestras, most notably the London Symphony Orchestra, The Philharmonia, the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, the Beijing Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Residency Orchestra of The Hague. Mok is a popular chamber musician and appears regularly with members of the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra in Davies Symphony Hall, as well as such prominent groups as the Ives Quartet and Prazak Quartet. She also appears in solo recitals and as soloist with the Symphony Silicon Valley, San Jose Chamber Orchestra, and San Francisco Chamber Orchestra.

Gwendolyn Mok’s newest recording Brahms; Late Piano Works will be available for purchase at the concert, and the proceeds will go towards creating a fund to curate the historic keyboard collection in the School of Music and Dance.