Junhong Kuang (Courtesy of Naxos)

The challenging programme for Junhong Kuang’s first full-length recital in New York on Friday 11 December 2015 gives an idea of this remarkable 15-year-old Chinese guitarist’s abilities: Suite Española by Gaspar Sanz, Chaconne from Violin Partita No. 2 in D minor, BWV 1004 by J.S. Bach (arranged by Xu Bao), Introduction and Variations on a Theme by Mozart by Fernando Sor, Rossiniana No. 1 by Mauro Giuliani, Capriccio Diabolico, Op. 85 (Homage to Paganini) by Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco and Sevilla by Isaac Albéniz (arranged by Pepe Romero).

Here is a short interview and fine performance by Junhong Kuang, presented by the D’Addario Foundation for the Performing Arts, recorded on his first visit to New York when he was just 13 years old. Junhong Kuang made his New York Debut at Carnegie Hall in 2012, when he performed in the D’Addario Performance series in a shared evening recital with the Turkish guitarist Celil Refik Kaya.

Junhong Kuang studied with Professor Xu Bao at the Sichuan Conservatory of Music in China. He won First Prize in the Thailand International Guitar Festival and Competition in August 2011 and won the Prize for the Best Interpretation of a work by J.S. Bach and for the Best Interpretation of a Spanish Piece as well as the Fourth Prize at the Iserlohn International Guitar Competition in Germany in 2012. 

He has already made his first recording with Naxos (8.573432) in the Laureate Series – Junhong Kuang: Guitar Recital – which was released in December 2014.

Junhong Kuang’s recital on Friday 11 December 2015 at 8pm, Symphony Space, Leonard Nimoy Thalia, 2537 Broadway at 95th Street, New York, is part of the International Artist Series organised by the New York City Classical Guitar Society. Tickets

© 2015 Thérèse Wassily Saba