Critical Acclaim
“Caroline provided the finest performance of my ETUDE FANTASY that I have ever heard. This is an extraordinarily difficult virtuoso piano work that she understood completely and played flawlessly. It is an astounding achievement.” – John Corigliano, internationally acclaimed composer and 2000 Academy Award Winner
”Pianist Caroline Hong joined the [Columbus Symphony] orchestra as soloist in the Concerto No. 21 in C Major. Her rendition was rich and wonderfully nuanced, and she interpreted this famous music with a steady focus on beauty and sincerity.” – Barbara Zuck, The Columbus Dispatch
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“Performing the entire work [J. S. Bach’s “Goldberg” Variations] at one sitting is a challenge to even the best of pianists, but Hong was unflinching. Her straightforward, concentrated approach, free of theatrics, matched Bach’s seriousness and impetus. |
She played with a rich, firm tone that filled the auditorium with its presence. Her performance was nearly flawless… Of note were the Ouverture and the Canone alla Settima, in which Hong voiced the chromatic, canonic lines beautifully. Throughout, Hong followed Bach’s lead, ranging from charming and restful to assertive and energetic.” – Lynn Green, The Columbus Dispatch
“Hong, a formidable young technician, played the Ravel excerpts with speedy grace, most gracefully in the bittersweet menuet. The second and third movements of the Mozart concerto displayed her balance of lyricism and classical style and her ear for well-balanced exchanges with the orchestra.” – Clarke Bustard, Richmond Times Dispatch
“A winning evening all around for pianist Hong…She was capable of the percussive pianism in the opening movement, the playful and dreamy variations on a theme that followed, and finally the savage attacks that bring this exciting concerto [Prokofiev 3rd] to a close. The changes of moods and methods make severe demands on a pianist. Hong met them without faltering. One cannot know from a single hearing of a single piece whether she has a solo career in her. But she played this difficult work very, very well. Hong certainly holds promise in her fingers.” – Peter Jacobi, Herald Times, Bloomington, Indiana
“Hong was expressive and powerful beyond her slight frame.” [Rachmaninoff Preludes] – Ralph O’Dette, The Columbus Dispatch
“The highlight of the concert came in the understated, quite spellbinding performance of Shostakovich’s Piano Quintet in G Minor, Op. 57. Here the Vermeer was joined by pianist Caroline Hong…Hong’s elegant, sensitive playing complimented the Vermeer in every way, never overpowering, working in perfect balance as though she played with the quartet every day.” – Barbara Zuck, Columbus Dispatch
“Hong’s performance was breathtaking. Etude Fantasy consists of five difficult technical studies that share musical ideas. For those interested in piano technique, it is there aplenty, but the music appeals on its own. It is hard to imagine a better performance.” – Ralph O’Dette, The Columbus Dispatch
“Pianist Hong struck a fine balance between soloist and ensemble player throughout the Brahms quintet, allowing her sound to shine forth without overpowering the strings. She tiptoed through the transition into the first movement’s development section. Even in her extended solo passage at the beginning of the Andante, un poco adagio, Hong maintained a gentle sound above the string accompaniment.” – Jennifer Hambrick, Columbus Dispatch
“In partnership with pianist Caroline Hong, also a last-minute entry, the
[Penderecki] Sonata was performed with clarity, drive, and musicality so natural that it seemed almost intuitive.” – Barbara Zuck, Columbus Dispatch
“Caroline Hong gave another convincing reading of some knotty contemporary piano music…I did not know the [Ligeti] Etudes but now want to, hopefully in readings as apt as Hong’s.” Ralph O’Dette, The Columbus Dispatch