Join us at the Hoson House as Kai, hailed by the Orange County Register as "a spectacularly creative young pianist...a very poetic player", performs an eclectic program of classical, jazz, originals, and improvisation."
His program will feature revivals of old music, creation of new music, and everything in between. He may even play a cover of your favorite pop tunes.
Kai Ono is a composer-pianist, raised in the bustling suburbs of Irvine, California and currently stationed by the colorful wheatfields of Lawrence, Kansas. He is a passionate fanatic of the color grey, the sound of laughter, and things that fly.
Known for his fluency in multiple genres on the piano, he has received national acclaim in numerous jazz and classical piano competitions and performances around the United States, including his recent award at the West Virginia Intersection of Jazz and Classical Festival for his "excellence in both genres." A winner at the Rosalyn Tureck Fourth International Bach Competition and the Celia Mendez Young Artists' Beethoven Competition in San Jose, Kai has had the opportunity to play for artists such as Wynton and Delfayo Marsalis, Jon Kimura Parker, Alon Goldstein, Steven Wilson, and Martin Katz in masterclasses.
As a composer, Kai is a recent recipient of Downbeat Magazine’s Undergraduate College Outstanding Composition for Big Band for his piece “Everybody is with Everybody Else”, premiered at the Blue Note in Kansas City, MO and performed at the Jazz at the Lincoln Center in New York City, NY. He has premiered a number of his own works at the Hoson House Classical Series in California, and is currently collaborating with a video game development team in Pittsburgh, PA, writing for them an original soundtrack.
As a recently awarded Presser Scholar, studying as a junior pursuing a BM in Piano Performance and Composition at the University of Kansas under Dr. Scott McBride Smith for piano , James Barnes and Dr. Forrest Pierce for composition, and TJ Martley for jazz, Kai is currently getting by accompanying ballet classes and playing background music for humbly classy dinner parties and receptions. He also loves secrets.