Grey Towers National Historic Site

News Release

USDA Forest Service

Grey Towers National Historic Landmark

Press Release #26-04

MILFORD, PA: July 30, 2004

Prize-Winning Concert Pianist to Play in Grey Towers' Great Hall

Prize-winning concert pianist Alpin Hong, praised by the New York Times for his "stunning virtuosity, artistic vision, and irreverent style," will perform in the Great Hall at Grey Towers National Historic Landmark on Friday, August 13 at 7:00 p.m. and on Saturday, August 14 at 5:30 p.m.

The concert is one of the Kindred Spirits Concert and Lecture series, co-sponsored by the Pinchot Institute for Conservation and the US Forest Service Conservation and Arts program. Tickets are $20 each and are available at Grey Towers (296-9669); Imagine That Consignment (409-8178); and Le Petite Provence Bakery (296-5706).

Alpin Hong was the first-prize winner at the 2001 Concert Artists Guild International Competition. The first pianist in eight years to win CAG's highest honor, he was the recipient of four additional performance prizes, including his New York debut at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, solo appearances with the Indian Hill Symphony, Orchestra X and at Market Square Concerts. Recent and upcoming performance highlights include a recital at Los Angeles' Wilshire Ebell Theatre, New York's Rockhotel Pianofest and Rockefeller University, Seoul's Hoam Arts Center, the Frick Arts Centre in Pittsburgh, Kansas City Friends of Chamber Music, the Chamber Music Society of Little Rock, Merkin Concert Hall 50th Anniversary Celebration, Maverick Concerts, the Asociacion Nacional de Conciertos in Panama, as well as concerto performances with the Greeley Philharmonic and Wartburg Symphony.

Critics have cited his "crystalline energy," "clear and persuasive ideas" and "remarkable breadth and coloration." A recent New York Times review stated: "It's like some crazed piano concerto, and Alpin Hong excitingly dispatched the fiendish solo part, replete with oscillating tremolos that made his arms a blur."

A native of Los Angeles, Alpin Hong made his orchestral debut with the Kalamazoo Symphony at age 10. He has since developed an international career, recently performing with the Korean Broadcast Symphony (KBS), as well as at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles, and at New York's Alice Tully and Avery Fisher Halls. His festival appearances include the Music Academy of the West, Aspen and Bowdoin Summer Music Festivals.

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