Radio

We are pleased to announce the release of From the Top’s new iPhone app! Powered by Instant Encore, the mobile tool gives fans up-to-the minute access to From the Top’s podcasts, videos, radio show clips, news updates, concert listings and more. The application is available through the iTunes store and requires users to create an account with Instant Encore.

Instant Encore is committed to keeping classical music vital and accessible to the audience of today and tomorrow while providing organizations and artists with the opportunity to utilize the media model of our time, the Internet. We are thrilled to be partnered with them!

Stay tuned for the release of our Android app later in the fall.

Although From the Top doesn’t tape many radio shows during the summer, our staff keep busy during these hot months with an important and exciting task – holding live auditions for our NPR radio show.

Live auditions are an opportunity for us to hear young musicians in a different and fun capacity; most of our auditions come in by mail. Recent stops our live audition tour included Boston University Tanglewood Institute (BUTI), Interlochen Center for the Arts, Brevard Music Center (BMC), and Aspen Music Festival (AMF).  Below are some highlights from the travels of Tim Banker, Caroline Cardiasmenos, Megan Lantz, and Tom Vignieri.

News From Interlochen Center for the Arts:

Tim Banker

Tim Banker reports: “As usual, our Interlochen auditions are a real marathon for the brain as we see kids from 9am to 9pm (no exaggeration).  The level at Interlochen is very high and so it’s pretty inspiring.  It really doesn’t get boring.  Interlochen is totally international so we also heard amazing kids from locations as far flung as Israel and Peru.

One of the terrifying things about Interlochen is when you try to get breakfast at the cafeteria at like 7:40am.  Why?  Because at 7:45am about 1,000 kids have to be at their orchestras or rehearsals or classes and it’s like experiencing a buffalo stampede in all directions except the buffalo are all carrying bananas, half filled bowls of cereal and jelly lined pieces of toast.  I was half asleep at the time and simply froze to protect myself. Pretty funny.”

From the Top staffers also delighted in an Interlochen tradition: The Melody Freeze, which is, according to Tim, “a gloriously mobbed ice cream stand from which you can buy $1 soft serve.”  Yum!

Music and From the Top Alums at BUTI:

Tom Vignieri

At the Boston University Tanglewood Institute, Tom, Caroline, Megan had a great day of auditions, hearing a number of excellent prospects for the show ranging from strings to winds and brass.

“I feel so lucky to be able to regularly visit Tanglewood, the western Massachusetts summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra,” says Caroline.  “I was lucky to participate in programs there two summers when I was in high school and I still feel the same excitement driving through the main gates.”

Over the weekend, Tom visited the Tanglewood main grounds to hear Stravinsky’s Symphony of Psalms paired with Mozart’s Requiem.  There, he sought out recent From the Top 10th anniversary alum Keitaro “Kei” Harada.  Keitaro is one of only three conducting fellows at Tanglewood Music Center this summer. Tom says, “Kei is more than holding his own, already working with Michael Tilson Thomas and now Christoph von Dohnanyi who Kei is assisting on the big opera production of the summer, Strauss’s “Ariadne auf Naxos.” Click here to read Kei’s updates from Tanglewood.

Tom also attended an afternoon BUTI Young Artists Orchestra concert that included a performance of Brahms’ Symphony No. 1 and Respighi’s “Pines of Rome” at Ozawa Hall.  He saw several From the Top alums including double bassist Kiyoe Wellington, trumpet player Dominic Favia, Jack Kent Cook Young Artist Sodie Finebone (who recently played the tuba for our Gettysburg show, which airs September 20), and timpanist Ted Babcock.

Hanging Out at Brevard Music Center:

Caroline Cardiasmenos

At Brevard Music Center, Caroline had the opportunity to visit briefly with Maestro Keith Lockhart before his morning rehearsal of Wagner’s Tannhäuser with the Brevard Music Center Orchestra (BMCO).

She notes, “The BMCO is the top orchestra here, and is composed of college, high school and faculty musicians. Brevard utilizes the side-by-side orchestra concept, which is a special opportunity for the students!  Hearing that sound was the perfect way for me to start a fabulous day of auditions.” (If you’re not familiar with the term, the “side-by-side” concept is where aspiring musicians perform literally side by side with accomplished musicians.  It’s an excellent teaching tool.)

At the end of the day, Caroline enjoyed catching up with Utah Symphony orchestra trombonist and BMC faculty member Bill Zehfuss:  “I chatted with him at the rehearsal in the morning and then happened to end up at the same restaurant as him later that night.  It’s so great to be able to catch up with our faculty friends on these trips.”

Across the Country at Aspen Music Festival:

This was Caroline’s first opportunity to travel to Colorado and gosh did she have fun!

“When you wheel in to the Aspen Music Festival campus, the first thing you notice is the sound of rushing water.  Castle creek runs right next to the main buildings.  That, and the gorgeous high peaks surrounding Aspen are the backdrop for a day’s worth of top notch auditions.”

Caroline spent her first day at AMF’s College Conservatory Day answering questions and rounding up additional young performers to audition: “Sometimes young performers can be hesitant to sign up for live auditions when they’re in the midst of intensive summer training.  Maybe they feel they don’t have a solo work prepared because they’ve been working on ensemble repertoire or they’re afraid they’ll be too tired to play their best after a long day of rehearsals.  We try to encourage them to look at this as an opportunity they should absolutely take.  Us “From the Toppers” are experienced running these auditions and know what the summer institute environments are like.  We are always happy to hear performers sooner than later, even if it doesn’t work out the first time.”

On her second day, Caroline ran the auditions: “Audition after audition is an inspiration for me as a musician.  And when you’re in a magical environment like Aspen, it’s even more touching.”

I can’t believe we’re already kicking off our 11th season of radio shows, and what better way than a fantabulous piano extravaganza! We taped the first show of the season earlier this week at the Young Artist World Piano Festival on the beautiful campus of Bethel University in St. Paul, Minnesota.

It was an exciting show that featured practically everything the piano can do, from solo to chamber music to a piano duo to a bombastic finale with eight hands flying! Three From the Top alums were included in the festivities. There was 15-year-old Colton Peltier, who appeared this time around with the Aurailea Trio, along with violinist Nora Scheller, 17, and cellist Jocelyn Schendel, 18. The trio performed the first movement of Ravel’s Piano Trio in A minor beautifully

Also featured was Leeza Ali, 16, who previously appeared as a soloist on both our radio and TV programs and now performed as part of our show’s grand finale. Picture two grand pianos, with two pianists seated at each bench. Leeza Ali, 18-year-old Reed Tetzloff, 17-year-old Leo Wexler-Mann, and the great Christopher O’Riley himself performed Smetana’s Sonata in One Movement for Eight Hands in E minor. It was fascinating watching the four of them working through all the intricacies of the piece at music rehearsal.

We also reconnected with cellist John-Henry Crawford, 17, who was flown in to collaborate with 17-year-old pianist Kenny Broberg on a movement from Brahms Sonata No. 2 for Cello and Piano. It was hard to believe these two met and put together this piece just one day prior to taping!

We  met superstar sisters Cindy and Serena Lu, ages 14 and 12, who played the first movement of Mozart’s Sonata in D Major for Two Pianos and then showed off their other major skill, rhythmic gymnastics (which, if you’re not familiar, is acrobatic gymnastics done with props, such as hoops, ribbons and balls). These two are such talented gymnasts that they recently competed in the Junior Olympics! During the show, I managed to tape some footage of them demonstrating, which will go live on our website when the show airs, but until then, check out this YouTube clip of 12-year-old Serena in action.

We also met 9-year-old pianist William Yang (fondly nicknamed “Yangster the Gangster”), who, though rather quiet in person, is as expressive as can be when he plays piano. For your viewing pleasure, I flip-cammed Mr. Gangster rehearsing his piece, Chopin’s Scherzo No.1 in B minor, the night before the show. Don’t miss the part when the block of wood propping up his piano bench becomes unsteady and Chris O’Riley sneaks in to save the day, or the very end of the piece where William finishes with a dynamic flourish. I loved it!

We are pleased to announce our 2010-2011 national tour dates for taping our popular NPR radio program hosted by acclaimed concert pianist Christopher O’Riley. The tour will include concert events at From the Top’s home base at New England Conservatory’s Jordan Hall and cities from Athens, GA to Yountville, CA and will mark From the Top’s eleventh season in public broadcasting.

What began as a radio experiment in 2000 quickly became one of the fastest growing and most popular weekly classical music programs on public radio. Broadcast on nearly 250 stations nationwide to an audience of more than 700,000 listeners each week, From the Top celebrates the amazing performances and captivating stories of America’s best pre-college classical musicians. We are proud to continue our work through the 2011 season!

2010-2011 From the Top’s NPR Radio Taping Schedule*

Tuesday July 13, 2010: St. Paul, Minnesota
Presented by Young Artist World Piano Festival

Tuesday, October 12, 2010: Davenport, Iowa
Presented by Orchestra Iowa as part of From the Top’s Iowa Residency, Iowa Makes Music

Sunday, October 24, 2010: Boston, Massachusetts
New England Conservatory’s Jordan Hall

Tuesday, November 2, 2010: Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Presented by LSU College of Music and Dramatic Arts

Tuesday, November 16, 2010: Abilene, Texas
Presented by KACU-FM

Friday, December 3, 2010: Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
Presented by the Zoellner Arts Center at Lehigh University

Sunday, January 23, 2011: Yountville, California
Presented by the Lincoln Theater Napa Valley

Saturday, January 29, 2011: Boston, Massachusetts
New England Conservatory’s Jordan Hall

Tuesday, February 8, 2011: Opelika, Alabama
Presented by the Arts Association of East Alabama

Sunday, February 27, 2011: Athens, GA
Presented by the University of Georgia Performing Arts Center

Wednesday, March 30, 2011: Cedar Falls, Iowa
Presented by Orchestra Iowa as part of From the Top’s Iowa Residency, Iowa Makes Music

Saturday, April 16, 2011: College Park, Maryland
Presented by the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center at the University of Maryland

Tuesday, April 26, 2011: Carmel, Indiana
Presented by The Palladium at The Center for the Performing Arts

Wednesday, May 4, 2011: Virginia Beach, Virginia
Presented by the Virginia Arts Festival at the Sandler Center.

Sunday, May 15, 2011: Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Presented by KCSC-FM at the Rose State College Performing Arts Theatre

*Keep in mind the schedule is subject to change; you can always find the most up-to-date taping schedule on our website.

Hi everyone! We were in historic Gettysburg, Pennsylvania last week, taping a show at the Majestic Theater, a beautifully restored 1920’s vaudeville house. We kicked off the Gettysburg Festival, an annual celebration of art and culture.

As you might imagine with a production such as ours, sometimes the unexpected happens, and this show marked one of those occasions. A fantastic teen ensemble called the Emerald Quartet was scheduled to perform on the show. Repertoire had been chosen and the script was well on its way when we received the news that one of the quartet members had a passport issue while on vacation in his home country of Venezuela and would be unable to return in time for our taping, which was less than a week away! The producers had to think quickly.

They knew this was an incredibly talented group of young musicians so they decided to bring in the three remaining members and have them play as a piano quartet with host Christopher O’Riley. Violinist Ethan Hoppe and violist Clayton Penrose-Whitmore, and cellist Alexander Hersh quickly learned their parts of the newly assigned piece – the Rondo alla zingarese finale from the Brahms G minor Piano Quartet – and then flew in to Gettysburg to rehearse it with Chris one day before the taping. Talk about a high-pressure situation! These three were obviously up to the task, however, because it came together fantastically.

It was a great show all around, and very diverse in terms of personalities and repertoire. There was 14-year-old pianist Hyung-Do Kim, who beautifully played Liszt’s La Campanella, 16-year-old violinist Elaine Kang, who played Sarasate’s showy Carmen Fantasy, and quirky 13-year-old cellist Kathryn Westerlund, who performed Shostakovich and then discussed her synesthesia (she sees colors when she plays music, and also associates people with colors. She told Chris he was purple, and she saw me as green).

We even featured royalty! Tubist Sodie Finebone, who is a descendent of a Nigerian king, gorgeously played a movement from Concerto for Tuba by Edward Gregson. He discussed his passion for music and his gratitude towards the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra’s Talent Development Program, which has mentored him since he started playing tuba.

Now for your video enjoyment, I want to show you the audition tape the Emerald Quartet sent in. Here they are, complete with their fourth member, violinist Kenneth Jones-Madrid, playing the piece they were intending to play on our show – the fifth movement from String Quartet No. 4 by Béla Bartók. Enjoy! And don’t forget to tune in when our Gettysburg show airs the week of September 20th.



If you’ve listened to this week’s show, you probably heard Christopher O’Riley talking to oboist Bryanne Presley about the pranks she likes to pull on her dad, Wade, who is also her school band director.  Well we’ve got a treat for you – great pictures of past pranks and video of Dad getting back at her on stage.

The work of 20 high school band students on the Presley house

TPing the band room

TPing the band room: the suspects

The band students moved Dad's chair to the middle school on his birthday

The obligatory explanation note for the middle school

And here’s how Dad got back at Bryanne:

Here in the From the Top office, we’re still on a high from the incredible taping Tuesday night at Symphony Hall, where we teamed up with Keith Lockhart and the Boston Pops! What an exciting show this was. From start to finish, it featured one phenomenal performance after another. Four of the young musicians who joined us were alums, and it was amazing to see how much they’d grown as performers.

Keith Lockhart, Conductor of the Boston Pops

The show opened with nine-year-old pianist Umi Garrett. This tiny girl, clad in a party dress and bows, is nothing short of a musical dynamo. She played Mozart flawlessly and then had a very funny bit where she showed off a trick – playing “Heart and Soul” while backwards and upside down – and Keith Lockhart jumped in to harmonize!

Next up was another alum, pianist Ronald Joseph, who was on our TV show when he was 17. Ronald grew up in New Orleans, but was displaced by Hurricane Katrina and studied for a year at the Juilliard School. You can see his story here. Now a sophomore at Bard College, he and Christopher O’Riley collaborated on a two-piano piece by composer Danny Elfman, joined by the Pops.

Third up was 16-year-old Michael Bridge, who played the Russian bayan. You’ve never heard of a Russian bayan, you say? No worries. Maestro Lochart took one look at it and said, “Hey, that’s not an accordion! What is that?” Michael loved that! To explain, the bayan looks a lot like the accordion except that it has buttons instead of keys as well as a broader right hand range. Michael played Vittorio Monti’s Czardas, backed by the Boston Pops, and it was a showstopper!

Next up was one of my favorite alums – 17-year-old cellist Gabe Cabezas, who was first on our show with his quartet when he was 12, and then performed as a soloist on both our radio and TV shows. We brought him back once again for this special taping to play with the Pops. Always a great performer and an old pro at all things From the Top, I think he outdid himself this time playing Shostakovich.

Next up was 17-year-old Michelle Lee, who is not only an excellent violinist, but also an accomplished tap dancer. She played Kreisler’s Tambourin Chinois backed by the Pops. In the middle of the piece, she handed her violin to Chris, did a tap dancing routine, and then grabbed her violin back to finish the piece with a flourish. The audience loved it!

The show closed with 17-year-old composer Jeremiah Klarman. When he was originally on our show at the age of 13, we introduced him as From the Top’s biggest fan. It meant so much to him to be on the show back then, and I was greatly looking forward to his return. The Boston Pops performed Jeremiah’s Symphony No.1 in C minor, and I was completely blown away! I could tell Jeremiah was too, and I was thrilled for him.

I’ve created a little flip cam montage of our music rehearsal the night before the show. The Pops weren’t there, but you can see Keith working with the kids. He was so great with them! Believe me when I say that this show was a special treat, and one not to miss when it airs the week of September 6.

You may remember 11-year-old Natalie Dungey on Show #202 in Salt Lake City, where she blew the audience away with incredibly polished sounds from a difficult brass instrument – the trumpet!  If you missed the show, you can listen here and watch a video of her rehearsal the night before here.

We just got an email update from Natalie’s dad and wanted to share the great news. Since performing on From the Top, Natalie blasted full speed ahead and was a featured soloist with Mateo Messina’s “Symphony of a Superhero”, a benefit concert for Children’s Hospital in Seattle at Benaroya Hall.

She didn’t stop there; next she soloed with the Auburn Symphony in February (Trumpeter’s Lullaby) and was paid to play 4th trumpet in the orchestra on the Frank Symphony in D minor and the Accursed Huntsman.

What’s coming up for Natalie? In August she’ll join the Sammamish Symphony and during the first week of December she’ll play with the Auburn Symphony.  There’s even a chance that during Fall 2011 she’ll play an entire concerto with the Auburn Symphony, at the insistence of music director Stewart Kershaw.

Some pretty amazing accomplishments for a young lady who hasn’t entered her teenage years yet!

Hi everyone! We just got back from Iowa, where we taped a show at Iowa State University in Ames. One of the school’s most celebrated graduates was in our audience – the great American baritone Simon Estes! He introduced the first performer, 18-year-old violist Caroline Weeks, who played a beautiful piece by Rebecca Clarke.

Simon Estes and Elizabeth DeVore, From the Top's Production Manager

Next up was a local performer, 18-year-old oboist Bryanne Presley, who played Vaughan Williams and provided one of my favorite moments of the show. Her dad is also her band teacher and we had him join her onstage to talk about all the pranks she’s pulled on him over the years. Of course, we couldn’t resist encouraging him to get back at her on national radio, and he delivered with a karaoke serenade that made her squirm!

Our production manager Elizabeth grew up in Iowa, and it turned out that Bryanne’s dad was actually her first band teacher back when she was in middle school! When they reunited before the show, Elizabeth reminded him of why she chose to play trumpet – because he had convinced her that developing the muscles in her lips would make her a good kisser someday!

Next up on the show was 16-year-old Kong Qi, who is new to America having recently come across the world from China to study music at the Walnut Hill School in Massachusetts. He played the exciting first movement from Stravinsky’s Three Movements from Petrushka.

We were then joined by our 10th Anniversary Alumni special guest, conductor Keitaro Harada, who beautifully performed Astor Piazzola’s Adios Nonino on saxophone and discussed the road to becoming a conductor. I can still vividly remember his appearance on our show seven years ago, and it was thrilling to catch up with him again.

The show closed with Octet Abbraccio from Columbus, Ohio performing Mendelssohn’s Octet in E-flat, Op. 20. I loved this piece, and I was touched to see the group members in tears and hugging one another after the show. It turns out that several of them are graduating this year and this was their final performance together. What an honor to be able to share the moment with them!

We captured their wonderful performance in its entirety (including a bit of the aftermath) on video. They really exemplify the special bond that playing music together creates.