Carey Byron is an exceptional young talent who touches the hearts of audiences with her intensity and emotional performance style. Carey began her formal piano lessons at age of 4. She won the Prodigy Award from the Atlanta Steinway Society at age 10 and was featured in the Atlanta Young Artist series at the Emory Chamber Music Society. At the age of 12, she left her home in Georgia to attend the Colburn Music Academy in Los Angeles to pursue rigorous music studies under prominent musicians. At age 13, she was selected as a Young Scholar by the prestigious Lang Lang International Music Foundation, as well as a scholarship recipient of the Chopin Foundation of the United States for 4 years, after each year’s competitive audition process based on its rigorous requirements. Subsequently, she was named a winner in Classical Piano at the 2021 YoungArts National Competition, which identifies the most accomplished young artists in the United States.
She also has won numerous piano competitions such as the Grand Prize and Audience Favorite Award at the 2019 MostArts Festival Young Pianist Competition in Alfred, New York, First Prizes at the Los Angeles Young Musician International Competition, Los Angeles Franz Liszt International Competition, California Association of Professional Music Teachers Concerto Competition State Finals, Atlanta Romantic Music Competition, and Georgia Music Teachers Association Competition.
At age 17, she was invited by the prestigious New York International Piano Competition as one of the youngest participants and received a Finalist award. During the same year, she won Third Prize at the Ronald Sachs International Music Competition Senior Category (ages 17–22) and the Lee University Int’l Piano Competition (ages 15–24). She also won Third Prize at the Redland Bowl Concerto Competition (ages 13-30) at age of 13.
Carey performed as a soloist with several orchestras since her orchestral debut in Italy at age 12 with the Brunesis Virtuosi Orchestra, under Maestro Uri Segal. Since then, she has performed with the Hollywood Chamber Orchestra under Maestro Frank Paul Fetta, Midwest Young Artists Orchestra under Maestro Allan Dennis, and MostArts Festival Orchestra under Maestro Steven Thomas. In July 2023, she will return to Alfred, New York to perform Saint Saëns Piano Concerto No. 2 with the MostArts Festival Orchestra under Maestro Yuval Zaliouk.
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…”. Her virtual concert, arranged by the Lang Lang International Music Foundation, was featured in “5 of our Favorite Online Piano Performances” by Pianist Magazine as well as in L.A. Weekly Magazine’s “Music Pick.”
In her spare time, Carey enjoys developing an online piano teaching series on YouTube called “PlayPianoWithCarey,” in which she creates piano lessons for people of all ages who can use her program to learn to play piano and read music for free. Her greatest passion is giving back to society through performances, as well as sharing the knowledge she obtained through years of music education with people who cannot afford such training. Carey will be attending Columbia University in New York City next fall.
For more information, please visit her website: www.careybyron.com.
Social Media:
www.instagram.com/careybyronpiano/
www.facebook.com/CareyByronPianist/
www.YouTube.com/@CareyByron
www.YouTube.com/@PlayPianoWithCarey
www.tiktok.com/@careybyronpianist