Honor Frisco, a junior at Palos Verdes Peninsula High School, has accomplished many musical feats in his 17 years.

Honor began piano lessons just before turning five years old and picked up violin a year later. Throughout elementary school, Honor developed his piano skills, participating in a number of regional and state-level competitions at which he received top awards each time. Honor joined his school’s string ensemble in the fourth grade, which is when he honed in on his violin interests as he enjoyed being part of a team to make music.

In middle school, Honor studied both piano and violin at the Colburn School in Los Angeles and became concertmaster of their string ensemble. While practicing these instruments, he still managed to keep high marks in school all three years.

Honor has also continued to advance his musical education by earning top honors in many competitions. In the summer of 2021, Honor was selected among outstanding instrumentalists nationwide to represent Southern California as a member of Carnegie Hall’s National youth ensemble, NYO2. Last December, he made his Carnegie Hall solo debut performing both piano and violin in the Weill Recital Hall. He was invited back for the summer of 2022 to perform a violin solo in a Summer Gala event on Carnegie Hall’s main stage. Honor will also be performing as a soloist at Disney Hall this summer.

In addition to these achievements, Honor was recently awarded From the Top’s Learning and Media Lab Fellowship, which gives outstanding young musicians the unique opportunity to share their performances and perspectives with a large national radio and digital audience. His violin performance and interview were featured on NPR’s From the Top broadcast in March. Episode 412 can be listened to at this link: fromthetop.org/show/show-412/. Honor is the first performer in this episode and is accompanied on piano with the show’s host.

On top of his NPR appearance and his upcoming performances, Honor is currently rehearsing with the LA Opera Orchestra for the production of On Gold Mountain, which will take place in the Chinese Garden at The Huntington in May. Honor was selected to play alongside the LA Opera Orchestra, along with other student musicians, by composer and conductor Mr. Nathan Wang. For more information about the opera, visit laopera.org/performances/2122-season-page/on-gold-mountain/

The Frisco family is well acclimated to the musical world now, as Honor’s 13-year-old sister Chloe is a cello player who learned from Stan Sharp. Honor and Chloe Frisco are names to look out for in the piano, violin and cello arenas.

Honor would like to thank all his local music teachers that taught him so much and gave him incredible support over the years including: Daniel Doctor, Gail Gerding-Mellert, Dr. Linda Govel, Esther Keel, Joseph Keel, Chauntelle O’Loughlin, Yutong Sharp, Elmer Su, and John Wang.