Alumni in Action

Nikki Yanofsky

Earlier this month NBC’s Brian Williams interviewed From the Top at Carnegie Hall alum Nikki Yanofsky about her exploding career. Watch the segment now. And we just heard from Germany’s ZDF Television that they will be airing a segment on her too!

Violinist Lindsay Deutsch, 24, is included in this month’s issue of Symphony as one of their emerging artists. Lindsay is soloing with orchestras across the country and has created an audience-building organization called Classics Alive. Read the article online.

Corey Dundee played with Grant Llewellyn and the North Carolina Symphony on their annual New Year’s Eve concert December 31 at Meymandi Hall in Raleigh, NC. He played The Upward Stream by Russell Peck, the same piece he plays on the CD “From the Top at the Pops.”

Sebastian Baverstam

Congratulations to cellist Sebastian Baverstam on winning the 2009 Concert Artists Guild International Competition in October.

We were thrilled to receive a note from oboist Alison Chung:

“This is Alison Chung and I was on your show over eight years ago in Boston.  I’m still playing the oboe and am now in the New World Symphony in Miami after finishing up my Masters degree two years ago.  Sad to say, I am still without a driver’s license.  I don’t know how I’ve gone this long without taking the test again but it hasn’t been too much of a problem, thanks to friends and family who have given me rides for the past ten years since I took driver’s ed.  I didn’t think it was possible but I won my first job before I got my license.  I recently won the Principal Oboe position in the Grant Park Festival in my hometown of Chicago.  (Maybe before the season starts, I’ll try to get my license.)

It’s been great seeing these alumni spotlights, two have been of old friends from high school.

Happy Tenth Anniversary!!

Best,
Alison Chung

Priscella Chan was recently named a Winner in the National Foundation for the Advancement in the Arts (NFAA) YoungArtist program. She writes:

I get to go on an all-expense-paid trip to Miami, Florida, to attend YoungArts Week, where I will participate in master classes, perform at concerts, play in chamber ensembles, and receive scholarships ranging from $1000 to $10,000!  I’m also eligible to receive the White House designation of Presidential Scholar in the Arts.  I am so thrilled about this opportunity that will undoubtedly further my growth as a pianist!

Bassist Nicky Schwartz recently performed live at WFMT in Chicago as part of the Dame Myra Hess Concert Series.

Thomas Steigerwald

Thomas Steigerwald won the South Central Regional Division of the Music Teachers National Association’s Senior Piano Competition held in Shreveport, LA. He will compete with the other six division winners on March 21 at the MTNA National Competition in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

To all our alumni, we love hearing from you! Send us your news at enewsletter@fromthetop.org.