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As a toddler, Preston Hong walked around his home, picking up household objects and pretending they were guitars while singing Raffi’s “Down by the Bay.”
His parents took this as a sign and enrolled him in lessons at the California Conservatory of Music when he was about 3.
Hong, now 17, has played ever since. He recently took first place in the senior division of the Guitar Foundation of America’s International Youth Competition.
“I grew a passion for [playing guitar],” Hong said. “I really enjoy performing for others.”
Even with a busy junior year filled with challenging classes, sports and time with friends, Hong continued making time to practice. He has taken private lessons for 11 years from Christopher Mallett, a co-founder of CCM, formerly known as the California Conservatory of Guitar.
During the final round of the competition, Hong recalled, his hands shook and his heart raced. He steadied himself by thinking about how he played during practice and trying to do the same.
“I was really excited to perform the pieces that I prepared for the final round,” Hong said. “I was feeling both nervous and excited at the same time, but I just really wanted to play my music and share it with everybody in the audience.”
CCM offers guitar, piano, violin and voice lessons to students of all ages and skill levels at locations in Redwood City, Sunnyvale and Fremont. Hong was one of three musicians with ties to CCM who earned top honors at the 2026 Guitar Foundation of America International Convention and Competitions, held June 22-27 in Denver.
Micah Montgomery, 16, took third place in the senior division, according to a CCM press release. Montgomery has studied at the conservatory for more than a decade. He and Hong were the only American finalists in the division.
“It’s crazy to win a competition like this,” Hong said, describing it as one of the most prestigious youth guitar events in the world.
CCM alumnus Eric Wang won the Rose Augustine Grand Prize in the International Concert Artist Competition. The prize includes a 50-concert tour across the United States, Canada and Mexico, a Carnegie Hall debut in 2028 and an album with Naxos Records.
Wang began lessons with Robert Miller, CCM’s other co-founder, around age 4 and continued until he left for college at 18. He graduated from Stanford in June with degrees in music and physics.
“Eric’s journey from CCM to Stanford and now to Carnegie Hall shows what is possible when young musicians receive world-class training and unwavering support,” Miller said in the press release.
Wang sees the competition as a “springboard” to “bigger things” as a concert artist.
“The most exciting thing for me is taking the opportunity to possibly work with other musicians and do music in more innovative capacities than I’ve focused on before,” Wang said.
