Toronto, September 22, 2025 – Charles Hong is the recipient of the $15,000 Ontario Arts Foundation Artist Educator Award. The award is given annually to an Ontario resident who exemplifies excellence in arts education.
About Charles Hong
Charles Hong is a music educator, composer, and performer, specializing in traditional Korean music and drumming for over 30 years. In 1992 he travelled to Seoul, South Korea, and for four years apprenticed under master drummer Kim Duk Soo. He received the 2008 Dora Award for Outstanding Sound Design/Composition in the dance category for his musical work on Soojung Kwon’s dance work Choonengmu. He has been on the music faculty at York University and the University of Toronto and is currently teaching Korean drumming at the Chang School of Continuing Education.
In 1997, he founded the professional drum group Ensemble Jeng Yi. Having enjoyed much public support over the decades, Ensemble Jeng Yi gives back to the community by providing opportunities for people to learn Korean drumming and to perform in a large community drum group called the Ironflower Drummers. Since its inception in 2017, this community drum group has grown into a multi-cultural and multi-generational performing company with over 40 regular members.
Since 2014 Charles has led Korean drum projects at over 200 schools in the Toronto District School Board. These school projects aim to support, as well as enrich, the music curriculum of each school, by having students participate in a unique musical practice distinct from the western music tradition. Through engagement with this artform, students will also broaden their knowledge of other cultures.
About the Award
The Ontario Arts Foundation Artist Educator Award recognizes an Ontario resident who exemplifies excellence in arts education, demonstrates a unique approach to their arts education practice, creates meaningful learning experiences for young people, inspires connections to the arts beyond the classroom and continues to maintain an active arts practice.
The Ontario Arts Foundation established and manages the endowment that funds the Artist Educator Award. The Ontario Arts Council is responsible for the selection process. The 2025 award recipient was selected through the Ontario Arts Council’s peer assessment process from the applicants to the Artists in Communities and Schools Projects program.
Previous recipients include Zoey Roy (2024), Nathaneal Larochette (2023), and Mike Cope (2022). See the full list of previous recipients.
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For information, please contact:
Bruce Bennett, Executive Director
Ontario Arts Foundation
Tel: (416) 969-7413 bbennett@oafdn.ca
Established in 1991, the Ontario Arts Foundation (OAF) is passionately committed to building long-term support for the arts in Ontario. In 2024-2025, the OAF paid $4.8 million in endowment income and $540,000 in awards and scholarships.
For more than 60 years, the Ontario Arts Council (OAC) has played a vital role in promoting and assisting the development of the arts for the enjoyment and benefit of Ontarians. In 2024-2025, OAC invested its grant program budget of $52.2 million in 204 communities across 123 Ontario ridings, providing 1,960 grants to individual artists and 1,030 grants to organizations.
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