Keyboardist Joanne Kong captures the attention of audiences in compelling performances that celebrate the vibrancy and eloquence of musical expression. Embracing a broad range of repertoire from Baroque to contemporary music, her performances have been praised for “great finesse and flexibility” (The Washington Post), “superb” playing (The Boston Globe), “utmost keyboard sensitivity and variety of tone” (Richmond Times-Dispatch), “remarkable technical ability” (The Oregonian), and “superb artistry” (San Antonio Express-News) for works “sensitively played” (The New York Times). Her versatility includes the distinction of being the first artist to release a harpsichord-piano recording of Bach’s Goldberg and Beethoven’s Diabelli Variations, and she gave the world premiere of Pulitzer Prize – winning composer Michael Colgrass’s Side by Side, the first concerto written for a soloist in the dual role of pianist and harpsichordist.
Dr. Kong has performed to critical acclaim at numerous venues including the Los Angeles and Oregon Bach Festivals, Abbey Bach Festival, Bach Aria Festival, Texas Bach Collegium, Houston Harpsichord Recital Series, Memphis Chamber Music Society, Stotsenberg Concert Series, San Antonio Festival, Los Angeles Monday Evening Concert Series, Virginia Waterfront International Festival of the Arts, the Royal Netherlands Embassy, National Gallery of Art Concert Series, Strathmore Hall’s “Music in the Mansion” series, Columbia University, Harvard University, international performances in the United Kingdom, Austria, Italy, Colombia, Brazil and India, and orchestral performances under William McGlaughlin, Myung-Whun Chung, Alberto Bolet, Steven Smith, Samuel Baron, George Manahan, Alexander Kordzaia, Eckart Preu, John Sinclair, Mark Russell Smith, Gil Rose and Alex Pauk. A gifted collaborator, she has performed with numerous artists including the Shanghai String Quartet, flutist Eugenia Zukerman, cellists James Wilson and Ronald Crutcher, viola da gambist Lisa Terry, violinists Karen Johnson and Lindsey Strand-Polyak, soprano Ying Huang, baritones James Weaver and Zheng Zhou, and 4-time Grammy Award – winning ensemble Eighth Blackbird. She has been master class pianist for numerous world-renowned artists, is in demand for master classes in keyboard performance, chamber music and Baroque interpretation including visits to Yale University, New York University, New England Conservatory, Brigham Young University and the Colburn School, and has led workshops internationally on Performance Anxiety and Effective Practicing Techniques.
An acknowledged Bach specialist, Kong twice received performance fellowships to the Bach Aria Festival and Institute held in Stony Brook, New York, and is regular guest keyboardist for the Winter Park Bach Festival in Florida where she regularly performs Bach concertos and both the St. John Passion and St. Matthew Passion under the artistic direction of John Sinclair. Her performances of the Well-Tempered Clavier and Goldberg Variations have received wide acclaim.
A native of Southern California, Kong is the recipient of national and international honors including performance fellowships from the American Academy of the Arts in Europe and the Bach Aria Festival, designation as a Laureate in the 1983 National Beethoven Foundation Fellowship Auditions, three Ruth Lorraine Close Fellowships, and the Irl Allison Grand Prize in the 1985 International Piano Recording Competition. In addition to concertizing, her performances have been broadcast over numerous radio stations including National Public Radio’s Performance Today, WQXR in New York, WFMT in Chicago, CKWR in Ontario, and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Kong is currently the Director of Accompaniment and Coordinator of Chamber Music Ensembles at the University of Richmond. A graduate of the University of Southern California and University of Oregon, she has studied with Joanna Hodges, Malcolm Hamilton and Victor Steinhardt, and performed in the master classes of Leon Fleisher and Lorin Hollander.