Currently the Coordinator of Keyboard Studies at San Jose State University School of Music and Dance, *Gwendolyn Mok* began her career at the Juilliard School of Music. She attended Yale University, where she completed her undergraduate studies, and State University of New York at Stony Brook, where she gained her Doctorate. From there she went on to win several piano competitions.
Born in New York, Ms. 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, and The Hong Kong Performing Arts Center. She is also frequently invited to play and record with major international orchestras most notably The London Symphony, The Philharmonia, The Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, The Beijing Philharmonic Orchestra and The Residentie Orkestre of The Hague.
In his 90th year, Vlado Perlemuter chose Mok to be the last student to whom he would pass on his knowledge of Ravel. In 1927, Perlemuter — a student of Ravel’s — sat at the keyboard of his tutor’s Erard grand piano and worked his way through Ravel’s entire oeuvre along with the composer. In 1994, the French Ministry of Culture awarded Ms. Mok a grant to study with Perlemuter for one year. Since 1995, Mok has been performing Ravel’s works in recital and was invited to teach these works at the Royal College of Music, Welsh College of Music, The Dartington International Summer School in Devon, and The San Francisco Conservatory of Music.
In 1996, Ms Mok made her official London debut in two concerts of Ravel in Somerset House, on a restored Erard grand piano of 1875, in the Great Room of the Courtauld Galleries. Mok’s production, Ravel and the Post Impressionsists, was sponsored by Citibank UK. She was also featured in broadcasts of Ravel on BBC Radio 3, Music Matters, Woman’s Hour and the World Service. Two additional productions were sponsored by Citibank, in the springs of 1997 and 1998: Mendelssohn in London, Letters Home was presented in the Raphael Gallery of the Victoria and Albert Museum, and A Gershwin Showcase –a re-creation of a 1930’s radio showcase featuring a 27 piece jazz band and soloists– was held in the sumptuous deco-period ballroom of the Mayfair Hotel. Ms. Mok was also the director of INFORMANCE!, a music program which benefited 400 children in East London’s public schools.
Ms Mok is a recording artist for Nonesuch/Elektra, Musical Heritage Society, Cala Records, and EMI. She can also be heard on several movie soundtrack recordings of music by Maurice Jarre. Her highly acclaimed debut CD with The Philharmonia of Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G Major (released on the Cala label) was nominated for an Alternative Edison award in the concerto category. A second CD of Saint Saëns’ Africa-Rhapsody for Piano and Orchestra with the London Philharmonic has been equally applauded and is broadcast frequently.
