Gwendolyn Mok

Dr. Gwendolyn Mok
Keyboard Studies
408-924-4637
gwendolyn.mok@sjsu.edu
MUS 103

Dr. Gwendolyn Mok is a leading pedagogue, lecturer, soloist and highly acclaimed recording artist. 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 has recorded and performed with major international orchestras including the London Symphony Orchestra, the Philharmonia, the Residency Orchestra of the Hague, and the Beijing Philharmonic Orchestra. Her recordings on Nonesuch, Gala, Musicians Showcase Recordings, Musical Heritage Society and EMI have garnered praise and nominations. Dr. Mok recorded three CDs on historic keyboards: the complete solo works of Maurice Ravel, Johannes Brahms' Opus 116-119, and Beethoven Legacy featuring works by Beethoven, Liszt, Mendelssohn and Czerny. All three CDs featured her 1868 Erard and other historic keyboard instruments from the collection at the Ira F. Brilliant Center for Beethoven research and School of Music at SJSU. All three CDs received outstanding reviews. In addition, Mok is soloist on EKTA II, a concerto written for her by composer Brent Heisinger and recorded with the San Jose Chamber Orchestra led by Barbara Day Turner. Her recording with soprano Angelique Zuluaga on Delos of songs by Irene Poldowski has received glowing reviews. As chamber musician, Mok appears regularly on the San Francisco Symphony Chamber series at Davies Symphony Hall, Berkeley Chamber Performances and as a guest of the Ives Collective. Dr. Mok is the recipient of many awards including a Lifetime Achievement Award  presented in 2019 by the California Association of Professional Music Teachers, the President's Scholar Award (SJSU) in 2016, the highest honor given to an outstanding faculty member for scholarship and research, the Artistic Achievement Award 2008 by the College of Humanities and the Arts (SJSU). She is a regular contributor to TONEBASE, a popular teaching platform, recorded a podcast for Sports Illustrated and a TED talk at Yale University on overcoming injury in her profession. Mok has served as the Coordinator of Keyboard Area from 2003-2019. She continues to teach on the faculty and maintains a busy schedule of performances and masterclasses. 

Dr. Mok received her BA from Yale University, where she studied with Donald Currier and Claude Frank, and her MM and DMA from State University of New York at Stony Brook, where she studied with Gilbert Kalish. Dr. Mok was a recipient of a grant from the French Ministry of Culture to work with Vlado Perlemuter from 1994-1995, who passed onto her his knowledge of Ravel; Perlemuter was Ravel's student from 1927-1928 and was one of the world's leading authorities of his music.

Visit Dr. Mok's Personal Website