2025 Speakers
Allan Hon, Musician, Independent
Praised for his lush, professionally robust string sound, cellist Allan Hon enjoys a multi faceted career, from concert recitalist to chamber and orchestral musician, and has performed for audiences in Asia, Europe, Canada, and North America. A prizewinner in many competitions, he is a strong advocate of chamber music, and is the cellist of the Zelter String Quartet, Gold Prize winner of the 2021 Chesapeake International Chamber Music Competition and First Prize winner of the 2023 Plowman Chamber Music Competition. He has also performed with some of the leading artists of today, such as Nicholas McGegan, Yayoi Toda, and the Attacca String Quartet. Allan joined the Long Beach Symphony Orchestra as associate principal in 2022 and also serves as a substitute cellist for the San Diego Symphony Orchestra and the New Haven Symphony Orchestra. He was also a part of the Hyogo Performing Arts Center Orchestra in Nishinomiya City, Hyogo, Japan, for their 2015-2016 season. Beyond classical music, Allan is also active as a studio musician, performing on soundtracks for movies, television shows, and video games such as Encanto, The Orville, Star Trek, and Final Fantasy XV, and has worked with several live artists such as Seth MacFarlane. He is the cellist of the Videri String Quartet, with whom he has performed mainstage shows at major gaming conventions such as at PAX East (2024, 2022) in Boston and MAGFest (2023, 2018) in Washington D.C. Allan has also performed with Herencia Flamenca in 2018, where performed flamenco shows alongside accomplished singers, dancers, and musicians from Spain and Venezuela. Allan holds a Bachelor of Music degree from the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University, where he studied with Desmond Hoebig, a Master of Music and Master of Musical Arts degree from the Yale School of Music, where he studied with Aldo Parisot, and a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Southern California’s Thornton School of Music, where he studied with Andrew Shulman. When he’s not playing the cello or partaking in musical activities, he loves exploring new places, lifting heavy things, and looking for the next tastiest brew.
