This Sunday sheer, impassioned joy will fly from the fingers of pianist Alpin Hong as he performs at the Resort at Squaw Creek.

His music, saturated in multiple tiers of craftsmanship, has the ability to envelop well-established devotees of the classical genre.

However, should the image of a stodgy classical musician emerge — banish the thought.

“I don’t want it to be dry and dead,” he said of his constant pursuit to showcase the vast capabilities afforded by the piano. Often these nuances are unknown to listeners — especially younger ones.

Hong, who has received rave reviews throughout his career, which has included a concert at the esteemed Carnegie Hall, is happiest when his gift is shared with a group of rowdy fourth-graders.
An ever-moving gathering of musical neophytes giggle, squirm and pop bubblegum until Hong’s infectious personality and his craft create the perfect duet from which to learn music appreciation.

It is fitting that Sunday’s concert from 4-6 p.m. is a fundraising event for Art for the Schools. The local not-for-profit organization is celebrating a quarter of a century of bringing art to area elementary, middle and high school students.

Whether creating artists for the future or impending audience members, it is guiding the young along the journey that the 33-year-old relishes.

Scratch his Julliard-trained surface and the soul of an adventurer quickly emerges.

An adventurer, who loves both snow and skateboarding, practices martial arts and is a self-avowed fanatic of video games.

His roots in music began as a youngster in Battle Creek, Mich.

“I banged the piano with my fist and my parents thought I had talent,” he said, laughing at the memory.
Soon he was immersed in the Suzuki method of musical training based in individual encouragement. He quickly graduated from playing tuneful ditties like “The Happy Farmer” to his orchestral debut, at the tender age of 10, with the Kalamazoo Symphony.

Recalling his youthful pursuits, Hong stresses an art form’s ability to bolster teenage self-confidence and develop pride in craftsmanship.

Citing the current popularity of competition-style television, he notes that real life does not end once a contest has been won. The next step is to continue the advancement of the craft, he said. Hong encourages an experiencing of life in all its richness especially when one has chosen, as he has, a non-cubicle work situation.

Whether playing the glittering notes of Debussy or the urban-driven syncopated rhythms of George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue, as displayed in his duo of CDs, Hong continually demonstrates music’s ability to transcend one from their physical state to one where imagination is often a key.
This power was self-evident when as a 12-year-old his parents’ sudden deaths forced him and a younger brother from their midwestern cocoon of familial certainty out to Los Angeles to live with relatives.

While a pre-med student at UCLA, the music, which has propelled him through an overload of teenage angst once again, sang to him like a siren.

Heeding the call led him on a journey of elation and fulfillment. From the classrooms of Julliard, the New York City-based conservatory, to stages across the world.

Where once the darker Russian works enriched his repertoire, now he enjoys playing the compositions of Chopin, Liszt and Johannes Brahms.

For Hong, a recent newlywed, having an abundance of the Romantics is understandable.
His musical journey has taken a new path.