Preston Hong - 14-year-old classical guitar talent records at GSI

Preston Hong is a 14-year-old classical guitar student from Los Altos, California. He studies guitar with Christopher Mallett at the California Conservatory of Music. Despite his young age, Preston is already performing works that are often in the repertoire of professional concert artists. In addition, he is also a prize winner of many competitions and was featured on NPR's "From the Top" radio show, where he performed a virtual concert with Bokyung Byun.

While at GSI, Preston recorded four videos. In the first video, you can hear Preston performing Domenico Scarlatti's "Sonata K. 491/ L. 164" arranged for guitar by David Russell. The guitar featured in the video is a 2023 Carlos Juan Busquiel SP/CSAR.

The next piece is "Ständchen (Serenade)" from Franz Schubert's "Schwanengesang (Swan Song), D 957". This is one of Schubert's late pieces published posthumously and it sounds particularly beautiful on a guitar. This particular arrangement was prepared by Johann Kaspar Mertz. Preston recorded this piece on a 1994 Gioachino Giussani SP/MP (ex Angel Romero).

Preston also recorded the introduction from a piece that was commissioned especially for him by the Guitar Foundation of America. It's Evan Hirschelman's new composition titled "Parichay". Preston chose a 2023 Teodoro Perez "Especial" SP/AR for this recording.

For his final piece, Preston recorded "Saudade No. 3" by Roland Dyens from his set of "Trois Saudades". The guitar featured in the video is a 2023 Sakurai-Kohno "Maestro" SP/CSAR.