“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. Audio of the album is available on all music platforms.
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.
洪維浩 (Francis Hon) 爵士鋼琴家/作曲家、麻州大學洛厄爾分校兼任鋼琴教授、史坦威鋼琴官方合作教育家，來自台灣，現定居紐約。
於奧斯汀德州大學 (UT Austin) 攻讀古典鋼琴演奏博士時接觸爵士樂，師事 1980 年魯賓斯坦鋼琴大賽首獎得主 Gregory Allen 並隨爵士系主任 Jeff Hellmer 修習爵士鋼琴即興，跨足古典與爵士雙領域，同時專研俄國作曲家 Nikolai Kapustin 融合古典與爵士之鋼琴作品。博班畢業後赴紐約大學 (NYU) 取得爵士演奏碩士，期間並於該校音樂系教授爵士與流行鋼琴。曾師從 Don Friedman、Alan Broadbent、Billy Drummond、Alex Sipiagin、John Scofield、Stefon Harris、Alan Ferber、Michael Rodriguez 等多位爵士名家，並於 Steinway Hall、Club Bonafide、Rockwood Music Hall、ShapeShifter Lab、Tomi Jazz、Williamsburg Music Center、Tishman Auditorium、Queensborough Performing Arts Center Theatre、The Provincetown Playhouse、駐紐約台北經濟文化辦事處等紐約知名展演場地演出。
首張爵士原創專輯《Before Dawn》特邀恩師暨知名爵士鼓手 Billy Drummond 共演，透過三重奏的編制開展對話與探索和聲，回顧從古典到爵士這段豐富的音樂旅程。