18 year-old violinist Kento Hong was born in New York and began violin at six in California with Aimee Kreston. He debuted with orchestra at seven in Los Angeles and entered Juilliard Pre-College at ten, studying with Dr. Ann Setzer.
Kento is a Grand 4th prize laureate of the 2021 Yehudi Menuhin International Violin Competition, a finalist and audience prize laureate at the 2022 Cooper International Violin Competition, and 3rd prize finalist at the 2024 Arthur Grumiaux International Violin Competition. He also holds first prizes from the Chicago International Competition, Camarata Artists International Competition, and the Chappaqua Competition.
In late 2024, he received the inaugural $50,000 Gurrena Fellowship from Meadowmount School of Music. A 2025 National YoungArts Finalist with distinction, he was featured on NPR’s From The Top, won Juilliard’s 2024–25 Pre-College concerto competition, and frequently serves as concertmaster. He was a Back to Bach Soloist mentor and Meadowmount full scholarship recipient.
Kento has performed in major venues, including Carnegie Hall, Merkin Hall, Lincoln Center, and Alice Tully Hall, appearing with Jaime Laredo, Sharon Robinson, Robert McDuffie, Maxim Vengerov, and the Oxford Philharmonic. In 2023, he was a member of the Kronberg Academy Masterclass and worked with Anne Akiko Meyers, Paul Kantor, Miriam Fried, Almita and Roland Vamos, James Ehnes, and Dmitri Sitkovetsky.
Beyond music, Kento researches osteoarthritis at Columbia Engineering. In 2024, he was a US national finalist at Regeneron’s International Science and Engineering Fair, earning the Grand 2nd Prize in Biomedical Engineering along with multiple special award distinctions. He was later named one of Regeneron’s Top 300 Young Scientists in the Nation for 2025.
Kento intends to continue his studies at Juilliard-Columbia starting this Fall.
PROGRAM
SEMIFINALS – Korngold
Violin Concerto in D Major, Op. 35
I. Moderato nobile
FINALS – Korngold
Violin Concerto in D Major, Op. 35
II. Romance
III. Allegro assai vivace
