Classical KUSC-FM (91.5) plays Antonin Dvorak’s “Carnival Overture,” performed by Fritz Reiner and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, amidst the traffic of the 405 freeway.
UCLA alumnus Jason Hong listened to Dvorak’s song every day on his way to UCLA. Hong said he loved the way sounds in the song came from all different directions like fireworks.
He was a math student, but it was then, listening to classical music every day, that his love for music and conducting reawakened.
“I ruled out (math) when I took multivariable classes,” Hong said. “It came down to what I couldn’t live without: music. And I haven’t regretted it since.”
Hong went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in musicology. In late October, Hong won second place in The American Prize for orchestral conducting, a contest in which conductors from around the country send in 30-minute performance videos. For the contest, Hong submitted his orchestra’s performance of Mussorgsky-Ravel’s “Pictures at an Exhibition.”
Hong’s parents came to America from North Vietnam on an old rusty fishing boat and began working at McDonald’s to support the family, Hong said. As a kid, Hong said he had to borrow instruments from his school to play music.
Hong said hearing music at school and at home on a regular basis drew him to pursue music. He said he loves how music is able to make emotion concrete.
It wasn’t until eighth grade when Hong discovered conducting by watching his middle school conductor lead the orchestra. In 11th grade, Hong had his first conducting experience with his high school orchestra.
Hong said that growing up in a house with parents who worked hard for him to pursue higher education made it difficult to choose between music and mathematics. Hong said although his parents had reservations for his artistic aspirations, he chose to pursue music.
“It became increasingly evident to me, at my time at UCLA, that there would be no other (career),” Hong said. “I had to (concentrate) all of my time on music to be able to (work as a musician).”
Hong pursued music performance his third year, after attending an American Musicological Society annual conference. Jorge Uzcategui, a former graduate music performance and composition student who mentored Hong, said he thought Hong’s future success was evident.
“I think the most important thing for a musician is to work extremely hard, and (Hong) has this quality,” Uzcategui said.
Howard Chao, a graduate music performance and composition student who studied alongside Hong at UCLA, said that Hong’s humor and ability to relate with students adds to his conducting style, which is faithful to the composers’ original intention.
“(Hong) conducts with a lot of energy and that makes him really pleasant to be around,” Chao said.
After graduating from UCLA in 2011, Hong attended The Butler School of Music at the University of Texas at Austin, where he was offered a music directorship of the university orchestra. From there, he was picked by maestro Peter Bay, music director of the Austin Symphony Orchestra, to work as his assistant conductor, leading to collaborations with international music luminaries such as Gil Shaham, Leon Fleisher and Cho-Liang Lin, among others.
Subsequently, Hong was picked as one of seven conductors, from a pool of 110 international applicants by maestra Marin Aslop to collaborate in the Cabrillo Festival Orchestra, which Hong said is a prestigious event for emerging conductors.
Now, Hong said he hopes to encourage his 16-year-old brother to pursue artistic aspirations. His brother also picked up music from a young age and shows a lot of promise, Hong said.
“(My brother) is my biggest inspiration,” Hong said. “It’s like he’s a seed. I want to give him fertile soil rather than concrete, so that he can flourish.”
With no specific conducting plans for the future, Hong said he hopes to keep furthering himself in conducting by jumping at any opportunity.
“I don’t know what the future holds for me,” Hong said. “One thing leads to another. I’m eager to find out what’s in store.”