The Kang Piano Duo consists of brothers Daniel and Justin Kang. Daniel began his piano studies at the age of 9 and Justin at the age of 7 with Snezana Krstic.
As soloists, both Daniel and Justin have won top awards at many competitions including the MTNA Piano Competition, the Opus National Music Competition, the XI International Piano Solo Competition Smederevo, the American Protégé International String and Piano Competition, the Steinway/Avanti Piano Competition, the Angelo and Micheline Addona Young Artist Piano Competition, the American Talent Music Competition, the Charleston International Piano Competition, the Arizona Musicfest Piano Competition, and AMEA’s Solo and Ensemble Competition. They are also recipients of From the Top’s 2024 Tim Banker Talent Development Award.
Daniel and Justin started playing as a piano duo in 2024 and have won first prize in the 2024 Arizona Musicfest Chamber Ensemble Competition and the laureate award in the XI International Piano Competition Smederevo’s Chamber Ensemble Competition.
Daniel and Justin have performed in masterclasses with esteemed artists including Aviram Reichert, Sean Chen, Julian Martin, Norman Krieger, Tao Lin, Douglas Humphreys, Alan Chow, Pavlina Dokovska, Nelita True, Alon Goldstein, Yuri Kot, Eugene and Elizabeth Pridonoff, Dian Baker, and Eckart Sellheim.
Beyond their piano duo, Daniel and Justin also play violin and cello, respectively, and have extensive collaborative music experience. Daniel has attended the 2024 Bowdoin International Music Festival and served as the orchestral keyboardist in the 2023 National Youth Orchestra of USA 2 (NYO2), performing at Carnegie Hall and on tour in the Dominican Republic. He has performed in the 2022 YOLA National Festival at the Walt Disney Concert Hall and the AMEA All-State Orchestra Festival as a first violinist for three consecutive years.
As a cellist, Justin was awarded the Grand Prize in the 2024 PYSO’s Annual Concerto Competition. As a result, he was given an opportunity to perform Elgar Cello Concerto with the Phoenix Symphony, and received a full scholarship to the 2024 Boston Tanglewood Young Artist Program, where he served as the principal cellist in their final concert at Seiji Ozawa Hall. Justin also served as a principal cellist at the 2023 YOLA National Festivals at Walt Disney Concert Hall and as the associate principal cellist for the 2024 AMEA High All-State Orchestra. He is currently the associate principal cellist in the Phoenix Youth Symphony Orchestra.
Daniel and Justin enjoy collaborating with other peer musicians and play in their church’s praise team every week. In 2020, they founded a student-run organization, Bridge to Music, to connect the community to music through various projects such as hosting free concerts for senior centers.
