18 year-old violinist Kento Hong was born in New York and began violin at six in California with Aimee Kreston. He debuted at seven in Los Angeles and joined the Juilliard Pre-College division 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 in the Juilliard Pre-College Orchestra. He was a Back to Bach Soloist mentor and a 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 an active member of the Kronberg Academy Masterclass and worked with Anne Akiko Meyers, Paul Kantor, Miriam Fried, Almita/Roland Vamos, James Ehnes, and Dmitri Sitkovetsky.

Beyond music, Kento researches osteoarthritis at Columbia Engineering. As a 2024 US national finalist at Regeneron’s International Science and Engineering Fair, he earned Grand 2nd prize in Biomedical Engineering, plus special recognition for serving society through science and excellence in medical research.

Kento intends to continue his studies at Juilliard-Columbia starting this Fall.