Gualala Arts Chamber Music Series presents: Laurel Ensemble Sunday, April 11, 2010 at 4:00 p.m. at the Gualala Arts Center

Buy tickets online

The Laurel Ensemble, composed of members Sarah Holzman (flute), Christina Mok (violin), Jenny Douglass (viola), Lori Lack (piano), Ann Lavin (clarinet) and Krisanthy Desby (violoncello), will perform at Gualala Arts Center on Sunday, April 11, 2010 at 4:00 p.m.

The Ensemble was founded in 2005 to specialize in the rich and varied repertoire written for mixed strings, winds and keyboard during the past four centuries. Flexibility is a key component of their ensemble; the all-female cast changes their melodic shape to fit the requirements of the music they perform.

Expanding and contracting their harmony and composition within a concert - and a season - makes it possible for them to play a very wide range of music. A lot of wonderful music is rarely heard simply because most chamber groups have a fixed set of instruments. The Laurel Ensemble continues to expand their ensemble to explore diverse repertoire.

These women have performed together as friends and colleagues in both chamber music and orchestral settings for many years and it was their shared sense of musical adventure that inspired them to form the Laurel Ensemble.

About the individual performers

Sarah Holzman, flute

Sarah Holzman is a regular performer with symphony orchestras, opera companies, choruses, and chamber ensembles around the San Francisco Bay Area. Sarah is also a founding member of the Laurel Ensemble; she lived next door to Krisanthy during the summer of 2001, and they heard each other practicing through a shared wall and decided to introduce themselves.

Sarah's involvement with new music has brought her to the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music, Stanford's Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics and a live radio concert on public radio's Echoes. In previous summers, she has performed with the Utah Festival Opera and with the festivals of Palma de Mallorca (Spain), Hot Springs, Orford, Domaine Forget, Sarasota and the Music Academy of the West.

Sarah received her Bachelor of Music from the Oberlin Conservatory, where she studied with Michel Debost, and her graduate degree is from the San Francisco Conservatory, where she studied with Tim Day. Other influential teachers have been Mary Ellen Jacobs, Greig Shearer, Leone Buyse, Raymond Guiot and Robert Langevin.

When she's not playing her flute, Sarah enjoys exploring the trails of California and beyond.

Ann Lavin, clarinet

Ann Lavin, clarinet, performs regularly with the Carmel Bach Festival, the San Francisco Lyric Opera, the symphonies of Monterey and Vallejo, and with New Music Works. She has performed with the San Francisco Symphony, the San Francisco Opera, the Oakland Symphony, the Fresno Philharmonic and Symphony Silicon Valley. She has performed at festivals including the Wien Modern in Austria, Shira in Jerusalem, Sebago-Long Lake in Maine and the Tanglewood Festival. Former posts held include Principal Clarinet with the Sarasota Opera and Principal Clarinet with the Utah Festival Opera. Her principal teachers were Larry Combs, Robert Marcellus, Daniel Gilbert and Charles Neidich. She earned a Doctorate of Musical Arts from Stony Brook University and also received degrees from Northwestern University and DePaul University.

Christina Mok, violin

Recipient of the British Council Fellowship and a full scholarship, Christina Mok earned her BM degree and Solo Artist Diploma at the Guildhall School of Music in London, studying under Yfrah Neaman and later with Rodney Friend. She is the winner of numerous competitions including the BBC Young Artists' Forum Audition and the Sutton Chamber Music Competition, the Korean Music Association Scholarship, and was named Young Promising Performer of the Year by the Seoul Arts Center in 1997.

Ms. Mok has given solo and chamber recitals in Japan, England, Norway, the U.S. and Korea, performed for the BBC and the Korean Broadcasting Service and was featured in prestigious festivals such as the Evian Festival in France and the Proms in London. She appeared as a soloist with the Russian Federal Symphony Orchestra at Tchaikovsky Hall in Moscow during the city's 850th anniversary celebration. Ms. Mok has also performed as a soloist with the Janacek Philharmonic in the Czech Republic, the Stockton Symphony, the Pacific Chamber Symphony and the Symphony Silicon Valley in California, and the Suwon Philharmonic and the Seoul Symphony Orchestra in Korea, among others.

Ms. Mok is currently the Concertmaster of the Stockton Symphony and the Associate Concertmaster of the Symphony Silicon Valley. She is an active guest concertmaster and has led numerous orchestras in California. Until she made her home in California in 2001, she was a member of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and the Acting Concertmaster of the Royal Ballet Sinfonia in London.

She also enjoys composing and produced the score for the documentary "My Skin's on Fire."

Jenny Douglass, viola

Jenny Douglass is an active chamber musician and orchestral violist in the Bay Area. Since 1999, Jenny has been the Principal Violist of the Marin Symphony, where she has been featured with Richard Stoltzman in Bruch's Double Concerto for Clarinet and Viola and with Jeremy Constant in Mozart's Sinfonia Concertante. Ms. Douglass is a regular substitute violist with the San Francisco Symphony and has performed with them in Davies Concert Hall, Carnegie Hall, and on several European tours. As a regular performer with the NYC-based Orpheus Chamber Orchestra since 1992, Jenny has toured North and South America, Europe, and Asia, and has performed on several of their CD's recorded for Deutsche Grammophon, one of which was a 2001 Grammy Award Winner.

From 1992-97, Ms. Douglass held the position of Assistant Principal Violist of the Colorado Symphony Orchestra in Denver, CO. Jenny has earned degrees from the Oberlin Conservatory and the Juilliard School. Her principal teachers have included Lynne Ramsey, Karen Tuttle, and Eugene Lehner.

Krisanthy Desby, violoncello

Krisanthy Desby has played in chamber ensembles, orchestras and music festivals all over the United States and overseas. She has been a member of the Houston Grand Opera Orchestra, Tucson Symphony, California Symphony, Sacramento Symphony and Santa Rosa Symphony, as well as playing with the Houston Symphony, San Francisco Symphony, Golden Gate Opera, Russian Chamber Orchestra and the Moscow Chamber Orchestra during their 2005 tour culminating in a concert at Carnegie Hall.

Ms. Desby is currently Assistant Principal Cello of the Napa Valley Symphony, where she has received glowing reviews for her work as Acting Principal. She has played Principal Cello for the Golden Gate Opera and was Guest Principal for the Modesto Symphony's performances of Scheherezade.

Her festival activities have included chamber music and orchestral work in Europe and North America, including the Scotia Festival in Canada, Orquesta Sinfonica de Mineria in Mexico City and Neuberg Kultertage in Austria. In the U.S. she has been a member of the Mendocino and Midsummer Mozart Music Festivals, and is in her 13th year as a member of the Grand Teton Music Festival, playing both as a member of the festival orchestra and the chamber series.

She studied with Nathaniel Rosen and Jennifer Langham in Los Angeles and with Stephen Kates at Peabody Institute, graduating with a Bachelor of Music Degree. She received a Master of Music at The Shepherd School at Rice University, where she was awarded a fellowship and was Teaching Assistant to Shirley Trepel.

Krisanthy started Monday Night Music to bring chamber music into private homes, and founded the Laurel Ensemble in order to focus intensely on chamber music with a select group of musicians.

Lori Lack, piano

Lori Lack has performed as a soloist and chamber musician throughout Europe and the United States. She is a member of the Laurel Ensemble, and has performed with the San Francisco Chamber Orchestra and Gold Coast Chamber Players. As a collaborative pianist, she has performed in recital with many artists including the Alexander String Quartet, the Stamic Quartet, Robin Sharp, Jassen Todorov, Gary Gray, Stephen Paulson, and Matt Haimovitz. She received her degrees from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, the Hochschule für Musik in Vienna, and San Francisco State University. In addition to serving on the faculty of CSU Summer Arts and California Summer Music, she has worked as an instrumental accompanist at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and San Francisco State University.

Tickets are $20 for advance purchases; $5 more on the day of the concert (buy your tickets early!). Children and young people ages 7 through 17 are admitted free.

For advance purchase, go to Brown Paper Tickets or call them at 800-838-3006.
To purchase in person, visit the Gualala Arts Center or Dolphin Gallery in Gualala.

The Gualala Arts Center, located at 46501 Old State Highway in Gualala, CA,
is open weekdays 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., and weekends from noon to 4:00 p.m.
Please call (707) 884-1138 for more information, or email info@gualalaarts.org.

Serving the coastal communities of northern Sonoma & southern Mendocino Counties.