2023-2024 SEASON

PFEIFFER
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Andrew Grams, Guest Conductor

Christina Mok, violin

Concert two, Pfeiffer, translates to whistler, and is guest conducted by Andrew Grahms. The Pfeiffer family were settlers in Big Sur who loved the land so dearly that they sold it to the State of California to be preserved as a State Park. The pieces in this program also show a connection to place, and draw from philosophical and poetic ideals. Anne Clyne borrows from a Scottish fiddle tune, and draws inspiration from her experiences in Edinburgh for her piece Pivot; Liszt draws from poems by Autran and Lamartine for Les Preludes; and Brahms utilizes the style hongrois (the "Hungarian style") in his Violin Concerto as an homage to his Austro-Hungarian friend and collaborator, violinist Joseph Joachim, in which Monterey Symphony Concertmaster Christina Mok is featured. Pfeiffer concert is a part of the inaugural California Festival: a celebration of new music, along with 100 other organizations such as the LA Phil and the San Francisco Symphony.

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Composing Big Sur: Pre-concert Doumentary Screening

Join us for the screening of a documentary showcasing Composer in Residence John Wineglass' creative process of his most recent Monterey Symphony commission, Sacred Land: Concerto for Violin and Orchestra.

The screenings will be held in the Sunset Center auditorium and are included with all November concert tickets.

COMPOSING BIG SUR SCREENING TIMES

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2023 AT 6:30 PM
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 2023 AT 2:00 PM

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Wine Glass for Wineglass! 

**Limited to the first 100 guests**

Composing Big Sur viewers will be given a "Wine Glass for Wineglass." Every patron who attends the screening will receive one Sunset Center reusable wine cup filled with either Cabernet Sauvignon or Chardonnay, or a non-alcholoic beverage. For the first time ever, drinks can be brought into the Theater at all Sunset Center events where concessions are available.

Wine glasses can be picked up before the screenings on Saturday, November 18, 2023, 6:00-6:40 PM only and Sunday, November 19, 2023, 1:30-2:10 PM only. Offer includes one cup and one pour of select wines. Refills can be purchased at the Sunset Center concessions. Ages 21 and over. 

 Admission to the screening and the Sunset Center wine glass promo (Ages 21+) are included with all November concert tickets.

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Anna CLYNE Pivot [Running Time 6']

LISZT Les Préludes [16']

—intermission [20'] —

BRAHMS Violin Concerto in D Major, Op. 77 [38']
Christina Mok, violin

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CHRISTINA MOK

An active performer, violinist Christina Mok has become a familiar figure in the classical music scene in Northern California. She devotes herself equally to solo performance, chamber recitals, and orchestral leading.

She has appeared as a soloist with the Russian Federal Symphony Orchestra, the Janacek Philharmonic, the Seoul Symphony Orchestra, and Symphony Silicon Valley, among others. The San Jose Mercury declared of one of her concerto performances, "She was a spellbinder as she dug in and let it fly…There was no need to long for Itzhak Perlman or Gil Shaham."

As a chamber musician she has performed in Korea, Japan, England, Norway, Hong Kong, and the United States. Her recitals have been broadcast on the BBC and RTHK.

Ms. Mok is the Concertmaster of the Stockton Symphony and the Monterey Symphony and the Associate Concertmaster of Symphony Silicon Valley. She has played with many British Orchestras, such as the Royal Philharmonic, the Royal Ballet Sinfonia, the Philharmonia Orchestra, and the Bournemouth Symphony. She has played in the Evian Festival, the Proms, Mainly Mozart Festival and Midsummer Mozart Festival.

She is the winner of numerous competitions including the BBC Young Artists' Forum Audition, the Sutton Chamber Music Competition, the Warshaw Violin Competition, the Korean Music Association Scholarship, and was named Young Promising Performer of the Year by the Seoul Arts Center. She studied at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London with a full scholarship and was also honored with a British Council Fellowship. Her principal teachers include Soon-Chung Suh, Yfrah Neaman, and Rodney Friend.

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ANDREW GRAMS

With a unique combination of intensity, enthusiasm and technical clarity, American conductor Andrew Grams has steadily built a reputation for his dynamic concerts, ability to connect with audiences, and long-term orchestra building. He's the winner of 2015 Conductor of the Year from the Illinois Council of Orchestras and has led orchestras throughout the United States including the Chicago Symphony, Detroit Symphony, National Symphony Orchestra, St. Louis Symphony, Cincinnati Symphony, Baltimore Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, Dallas Symphony, and the Houston Symphony.

Andrew Grams became music director of the Elgin Symphony Orchestra after an international search in 2013 and recently concluded his tenure there after 8 seasons. His charismatic conducting and easy accessibility have made him a favorite of Elgin Symphony audiences.

A frequent traveler, Mr. Grams has worked extensively with orchestras abroad, including the symphony orchestras of Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver, the Orchestre National de France, Hong Kong Philharmonic, BBC Symphony Orchestra London, the symphony orchestras of Sydney, Melbourne, and Adelaide, the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, the Barcelona Symphony Orchestra, and Het Residentie Orchestra in The Hague, Netherlands. He has led multiple performances of New York City Ballet's George Balanchine's The Nutcracker® and the first performances of the new production of The Nutcracker for the Norwegian National Ballet in Olso.

Also an educator, Mr. Grams has worked with orchestras at institutions such as the Curtis Institute of Music, the Cleveland Institute of Music, Indiana University, Roosevelt University, the National Orchestral Institute at the University of Maryland, and the Amsterdam Conservatorium.

Born in Severn, Maryland, Mr. Grams began studying the violin when he was eight years old. In 1999 he received a Bachelor of Music in Violin Performance from The Juilliard School, and in 2003 he received a conducting degree from the Curtis Institute of Music where he studied with Otto-Werner Mueller. He was selected to spend the summer of 2003 studying with David Zinman, Murry Sidlin and Michael Stern at the American Academy of Conducting at Aspen and returned to that program again in 2004. Mr. Grams served as Assistant Conductor of The Cleveland Orchestra from 2004-2007 where he worked under the guidance of Franz Welser-Möst, and has since returned for several engagements.

As an accomplished violinist, Mr. Grams was a member of the New York City Ballet Orchestra from 1998-2004, serving as acting associate principal second violin in 2002 and 2004. Additionally, he has performed with ensembles including the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Orchestra of St. Luke's, Brooklyn Philharmonic, and the New Jersey Symphony.