Kento Hong, a Japanese-Taiwanese American violinist, was born in New York and began his violin studies at age 6 in California under Aimee Kreston. At age 7, he made his orchestral debut in Los Angeles and has been a student of the Juilliard Pre-College Division since age 10. He continues to study with Dr. Ann Setzer at the Juilliard School.

Kento is a Grand 4th Prize laureate of the 2021 Yehudi Menuhin International Violin Competition, a finalist and audience prize laureate of the 2022 Thomas and Evon Cooper International Violin Competition, and a 3rd Prize winner of the 2024 Arthur Grumiaux International Violin Competition. He has also received first prizes at the Chicago International Competition, the Camarata Artists International Competition, and the Chappaqua Orchestra Concerto Competition.

In late 2024, Kento was awarded the $50,000 Gurrena Fellowship career grant from the Meadowmount School of Music. He is a 2025 National YoungArts Finalist with Distinction, a featured guest artist on NPR’s From the Top, and a Back to Bach Soloist mentor. He is also the 2024–25 winner of the Juilliard Pre-College Concerto Competition and has been frequently selected as concertmaster of the Juilliard Pre-College orchestra, symphony, and chamber ensembles.

Kento has performed at major venues, including Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall, Zipper Hall, the New World Center, and Kronberg Academy. He has shared the stage with renowned artists such as Jaime Laredo, Sharon Robinson, Robert McDuffie, Maxim Vengerov, and the Oxford Philharmonic at Carnegie Hall. Kento was an active artist of the Kronberg Academy Festival and has participated in masterclasses with Anne Akiko Meyers, Paul Kantor, Miriam Fried, Donald Weilerstein, Almita & Roland Vamos, Daniel Phillips, James Ehnes, Joseph Lin, David Kim, Annie Fullard, Kikuei Ikeda, Dmitri Sitkovetsky, Midori, Stella Chen, and Elmar Oliveira.

Alongside his violin studies, Kento is an avid researcher and public communicator. On From the Top Show 441, he spoke about the interdisciplinary connection between music and science through his osteoarthritis research at Columbia Engineering. In 2024, as a U.S. national finalist, he was awarded Grand 2nd Prize in the Biomedical Engineering category at the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF), as well as other special awards. He was later recognized as one of Regeneron’s Top 300 Young Scientists in the Nation for 2025.

Kento will continue his studies this fall at Columbia–Juilliard & Columbia Engineering.

Created in 2022, in memory of David A. Barnebl, an educated, passionate music lover, by his wife, Linda Gurrena Barnebl, the purpose of The Gurrena Fellowship is to support and encourage exceptionally talented students to become abundantly successful in their professional journey. This generous fellowship of $50,000 enables its recipients to continue to pursue their careers with vigor and passion without the burden of financial constraint.

2023 – Luiz Fernando Venturelli, cello
2022 – Sydney Lee, cello

The Gurrena Fellowship is awarded each year to a Meadowmount School of Music student who is dedicated to becoming successful within the music industry.

The ideal recipient is an exceptionally talented artist who demonstrates vigor and unrelenting passion in their pursuit of a distinguished career within the field of music. Funds from this fellowship should be reserved to support postgraduate students, whenever possible, who will benefit from financial assistance as they transition from their musical training to independent careers in performance, composition, or as master teachers within the field of music. Exceptions are made with the support for Ms Barnebl.

Fellowship funds are managed by Meadowmount and allocated to scholarship support and a spring recital tour, and may provide for management and publicity advisors, a housing allowance, travel stipend, and/or tuition and training contribution, and other expenses as requested and approved.