Alfred University News

Carey Byron returns to Alfred University to perform in MostArts Festival

Pianist Carey Byron was 14 years old when she won the 2019 MostArts Festival’s Young Pianist Competition grand prize. With MostArts resuming this month on Alfred University’s campus, Byron, now 18, returns to perform in the opening concert, Sunday, July 23, in the Miller Theater.


Her appearance at the seventh MostArts Festival continues a tradition established by MostArts founder and Artistic Director Lisa Lantz, Professor of Music at Alfred University, when the winner of the inaugural Young Pianist Competition, Mayuki Miahita, returned the following year to perform in the opening concert of the second MostArts Festival.

Byron will perform French composer Camille Saint-Saen’s Piano Concerto No. 2 in G minor with the MostArts Festival Orchestra. The orchestra, under the direction of Maestro Yuval Zaliouk, will also perform Mozart’s Così fan tutte Overture and Bizet’s Symphony in C.

The concert begins at 7:30, with a reception in Ade Hall to follow.

Byron grew up in Roswell, GA, before her family moved to Los Angeles, where she studied classical piano at the Colburn School. Since winning the Young Pianist Competition at the 2018 MostArts Festival, she has continued to perform and establish her reputation as a young master of classical piano. Her honors 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. 

Tickets for the 2023 MostArts Festival are on sale now at 47.alexblog.net/MostArts, or by emailing [email protected]