Monterey, United States, August 08,2019- Single tickets for concerts and special events for the Monterey Symphony’s 2019-2020 Season, “Ovation,” go on sale at 12 a.m. Thursday, Aug. 15. Tickets range from $44 – $85.
The Symphony’s six-concert 74th season “Ovation” opens on Oct. 19-20, 2019, with Antonín Dvořák’s Romance for violin and orchestra, featuring concertmaster Christina Mok. The season continues Nov. 15-16, with pianist Kun Woo Paik returning to the Symphony to perform two piano concerti.
Concert No. 3 is Feb. 15-16, 2020, featuring two massive symphonic works, both weaving elegant stories for the listener. The fourth concert of the season is set for March 14-15, 2020, and features guest conductor Oleg Caetani making his debut with the Symphony.
Concert No. 5, April 18-19, 2020, features Symphony favorite, violinist Judith Ingolfsson, performing Brahms’ violin concerto. The sixth and final concert will highlight works by Richard Strauss and Gustav Mahler and be conducted by Symphony Music Director Max Bragado-Darman.
The roster of special events, luncheons and dinners kicks off Oct. 6, 2019 with the Symphony’s Paella Cook-Off pitting Maestro Bragado-Darman’s legendary paella in a friendly competition with a local celebrity chef, Angela Tamura, Chef de Cuisine at Peppoli and the Inn at Spanish Bay. This fiesta will feature Spanish guitarist Cerro Negro Trio and flamenco dancing by Melissa Cruz. Six preview luncheons will be hosted on the Thursdays prior to each concert and five supper clubs will be held on Sundays after the matinee concerts (October-April). Special Events culminate on May 17, 2020, with the Finale Celebration to give the Maestro a send-off worthy of his 15 years at the helm of the Symphony.
Concert 1: October 19-20, 2019
The Monterey Symphony opens its 74th season Ovation with Antonín Dvořák’s Romance for violin and orchestra, featuring concertmaster Christina Mok. This delightful, single-movement work was commissioned to serve as an annual musical tradition for the Provisional Theatre Orchestra in Prague. Based on a theme from the second movement of his fifth string quartet, Romance is a lovely interplay between the violinist and the orchestra. Other iterations of the melody were presented in his later works — it was an obvious favorite of Dvořák’s!
Hector Berlioz’s Symphonie Fantastique takes the mercurial, and often tragic, life of an artist and sets it to music. The title underlines not only the fantastic musical fireworks that take place on stage, but also a fantasy Berlioz was demonstrating. Written as an homage to unrequited love—the result of too many unanswered love letters — Berlioz uses the voices of the instruments to explain his emotions. The work travels through the artist’s life, culminating in his own funeral in the wildly intense final movement.
Violinist Christina Mok has captivated audiences with her solo performances, chamber recitals, and orchestral leadership. She has appeared as a soloist with the Russian Federal Symphony Orchestra, the Janacek Philharmonic, and the Seoul Symphony Orchestra, 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. She is the Concertmaster of the Stockton Symphony and the Monterey Symphony and the Associate Concertmaster of Symphony Silicon Valley.
Max Bragado-Darman, conductor
Antonín Dvořák / Romance, Op. 11
Christina Mok, violin
Hector Berlioz / Symphonie Fantastique, Op. 14
Contact:
Marci Bracco Cain
Chatterbox PR
Salinas, CA 93901
(831) 747-7455
http://www.montereysymphony.org
