Fifteen-year-old pianist Carey Byron began her piano studies at the age of four. Since then, she has won numerous awards at local, state, and international competitions. Among them include First Prizes at the Los Angeles Young Musician International Competition, Franz Liszt International Competition, CAPMT Concerto Competition State Finals, and Atlanta Romantic Music Competition. She has won top prizes at the Hawaii International Piano Competition, American Protégé International Piano Competition, and Redlands Bowl Young Artist Concerto Competition as the youngest contestant (13 years old) in the age group of 13-30. Most recently, she won the Grand Prize award, as well as the Audience Favorite Award, at the 2019 MostArts Festival Young Pianist Competition.
Carey has performed solo recitals as well as chamber and orchestral performances in concert venues across the country and overseas, including Carnegie Hall, Zipper Concert Hall, Thayer Recital Hall, Warner Concert Hall, Richard Nixon Presidential Library, Cantigny Park, Redlands Bowl, Jay Pritzker Pavilion at the Millennium Park in Chicago, Krzysztof Penderecki Concert Hall in Lusławice, Poland, and the Ignacy Jan Paderewski center in Kaśna Dolna, Poland. Carey had her orchestral debut in Italy with the Brunesis Virtuosi Orchestra, under Uri Segal, at the age of 12. She has performed with the Hollywood Chamber Orchestra under Frank Paul Fetta, the Midwest Young Artists Orchestra under Allen Dennis, and MostArts Festival Orchestra under Steven Thomas.
Chicago Music Report praised her concerto performance at Millennium Park for presenting “a searching, warm reading…tracing the melancholy melodic contours with grace and sensitivity. It’s little wonder that [she] has picked up numerous prizes…. leading to her debut in Carnegie Hall.”
Carey was one of the prodigies selected by the Atlanta Steinway Society and was the youngest performer featured in the Atlanta’s Young Artist series at the Emory Chamber Music Society. She also has performed with Jean-Yves Thibaudet at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts.
Carey has performed in master classes for renowned pianists, including Angela Cheng, Dae-Jin Kim, Yoshikazu Nagai, John O’Conor, Antonio Pompa-Baldi, Boris Slutsky, Steven Spooner, Jon Nakamatsu, Jean-Yves Thibaudet, and Yoheved Kaplinsky. She is also an avid chamber musician who regularly performs in ensembles.
Carey is a Young Scholar of the Lang Lang International Music Foundation, a finalist with From The Top, and a scholarship recipient of the Chopin Foundation of the United States. Outside of music, she loves to read, sing, and dance.
