“With a confident, graceful tone and a smart harmonic sensibility...with his harmonic concept at its most sophisticated, it’s the record’s best evidence that Hon has a promising career ahead of him in this music.”
“Hon’s an elegant player, and one noticeably sensitive to harmony and melody...the Taiwan-born pianist raises the piano trio tradition to a level of high art with elegant, classically infused playing.”
“Hon has a way of gently coaxing a melody to resonate with impressive strength.”
“Francis has an extensive background in classical music, which gives him good facility at the keyboard.”
“I do notice Francis’ use of triads and how it has expanded his musical thinking. Nice compositions, too. It’s very beautiful...which is obviously close to his heart.”
“Francis has clearly achieved his goal of melding his classical background with some of the most pertinent jazz on the scene today.”
Born in Taipei, Taiwan, Dr. Francis Hon (洪維浩) began playing classical piano at the age of six. In 2011, Francis moved to the United States to pursue a Doctorate in Piano Performance at The University of Texas at Austin, where he studied with Gregory Allen, the Grand Prize winner of the 1980 Arthur Rubinstein International Piano Competition. Francis was always influenced by a variety of musical genres, which formed the foundation of his future musical style.
Francis ignited his passion for jazz music in Austin, “the live music capital of the world.” While continuing his classical piano studies, he took up jazz piano with Jeff Hellmer and started playing with many musicians on the Austin jazz scene. He also worked as the Assistant Artistic Director and Lead Pianist for “Life in the City,” a weekly concert with jazz music and other genres. Francis’ final doctorate thesis in the work of Nikolai Kapustin solidified his interest in combining elements of classical music with the jazz idiom.
After graduation, Francis moved to New York City to attend the Jazz Studies Masters Program at New York University. While acting as an Adjunct Instructor of Piano at NYU, he studied with renowned musicians on today’s jazz scene, including: John Scofield, Stefon Harris, Don Friedman, Alan Broadbent, Billy Drummond, Alex Sipiagin, Ralph Lalama, Billy Drewes, Ron McClure, Tony Moreno, Alan Ferber, Michael Rodriguez, and others. He also lead his trio and quartet in various distinguished productions and events, performed in many music venues in New York including Steinway Hall, Club Bonafide, Rockwood Music Hall, ShapeShifter Lab, Tomi Jazz, Tishman Auditorium, Williamsburg Music Center, Queensborough Performing Arts Center Theatre, The Provincetown Playhouse, Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in New York, and others.
In 2017, Francis co-founded World Jazz Quintet (WJQ) along with Dr. Scott Litroff, David Ullmann, Jeong Hwan Park, and Daisuke Konno. The WJQ draws from a variety of styles including jazz standard, American and Asian pop, contemporary, experimental, and folk music from around the world to produce a truly unique and highly improvisational sound.
Francis' jazz trio debut album, "Before Dawn," was released in 2018 to positive media reviews. The album consists almost entirely of Francis’ original compositions and arrangements and features Billy Drummond. The album post-production was made possible by an extremely successful Kickstarter fundraiser campaign.
Besides music performances, Francis has been the Official Educational Partner at Steinway & Sons since 2019. Through this partnership, he devoted himself to connecting students to the brand and bringing piano/music education to the next level. Francis is currently Adjunct Professor at University of Massachusetts Lowell where he teaches piano and composition.
「充滿自信而優雅的音色與聰慧的和聲感知……在和聲概念最精緻的時刻，這張專輯最能證明他在此音樂領域擁有充滿希望的未來。」— All About Jazz
出生於台灣台北，洪維浩（Francis Hon）自六歲起開始學習古典鋼琴。2011 年東海音樂系畢業後，前往美國德州大學奧斯汀分校攻讀鋼琴演奏博士學位，師從 1980 年魯賓斯坦國際鋼琴大賽首獎得主 Gregory Allen。求學期間深受多種音樂類型影響，這些元素奠定了未來音樂風格基礎。
維浩在德州奧斯汀持續研習古典鋼琴同時，亦師從該校爵士系主任 Jeff Hellmer 修習爵士鋼琴，並與當地爵士音樂家即興演出。期間擔任「Life in the City」助理藝術總監與首席鋼琴師，該節目為每週日夜晚教會音樂會，涵蓋流行爵士及其他音樂類型。維浩的博士論文以卡普斯汀（Nikolai Kapustin）鋼琴作品為題，進一步鞏固了古典音樂元素與爵士語彙結合的興趣。
博班畢業後，維浩負笈紐約大學攻讀爵士演奏碩士，並兼任該校音樂系鋼琴講師，教授爵士與流行鋼琴。師從當代多位享譽國際的爵士名家，如 John Scofield、Stefon Harris、Don Friedman、Alan Broadbent、Billy Drummond、Alex Sipiagin、Ralph Lalama、Billy Drewes、Ron McClure、Tony Moreno、Alan Ferber、Michael Rodriguez 等人。維浩亦領導自己的爵士重奏參與多場重要演出與活動，並於紐約知名音樂場地演出，包括史坦威音樂廳、Club Bonafide、Rockwood Music Hall、ShapeShifter Lab、Tomi Jazz、Tishman Auditorium、Williamsburg Music Center、Queensborough Performing Arts Center Theatre、The Provincetown Playhouse、駐紐約台北經濟文化辦事處等。
2017 年，維浩與 Scott Litroff、David Ullmann、Jeong Hwan Park 以及 Daisuke Konno 多位活躍紐約的爵士音樂家共同創立「世界爵士五重奏」（World Jazz Quintet）融合爵士經典、歐美亞洲流行、當代實驗與世界民謠等多元風格，創造出獨特且高度即興的音樂聲響。2018 年，維浩發行首張爵士三重奏專輯《Before Dawn》收錄多首原創作品與改編，並邀請傳奇爵士鼓手 Billy Drummond 參與錄製。專輯後製透過 Kickstarter 群眾募資成功完成，且發行後獲得樂評一致認同好評。
除音樂演出外，維浩自 2019 年起成為史坦威鋼琴官方教育合作夥伴，致力於連結學生與品牌，並推動鋼琴與音樂教育發展。維浩目前任教於麻薩諸塞大學洛威爾分校音樂系，教授鋼琴與作曲。