Blog/News

In March 2015, From the Top alumni Anna DeLoi, Matt Dykeman, Ryan Shannon, and Chad Lilley participated in a week-long From the Top arts leadership residency in southeastern Kentucky where they explored how music can be used as a central tool for leadership and community building. In response to the question “What am I learning about myself as […]

If you’re here, that means you’re part of the From the Top family…Michael Thurber, alum and gala performer And if you’re reading this, you are too. We’re grateful for every single one of you, as we couldn’t do what we do without your support: listening to our NPR radio show, sharing our videos and stories, […]

Just down the street from our offices is Berklee College of Music, where we filmed this latest video. Charlie Puth, who wrote the incredibly popular song “See You Again,” also happens to be a Berklee grad, as is Evan Chapman, who did the arrangement. In this video, From the Top musicians from Berklee, New England […]

NPR’s From the Top with Host Christopher O’Riley alum Yuga Cohler (Shows 104, 142 and From the Top at Carnegie Hall on PBS), is no longer playing his oboe full time. But it’s not due to a lack of interest in music! Yuga is the newly appointed Music Director and Conductor of the Young Musicians […]

The incredible From the Top band covers Jennifer Lopez’s “Feel the Light” from the Dreamworks movie Home. Shot on location at Fruitlands Museum in Harvard, Massachusetts. And yes, we used drones. We’re cool like that. A From the Top video. All rights reserved. Please contact info@fromthetop.org for more information. www.fromthetop.org www.facebook.com/fromthetopfans …

This outreach event took place during the weekend of Show 305 in Miami, Florida. A shy boy with a mop of dark hair sits quietly on the side of the classroom at Pine Villa Elementary School in Miami, Florida. When Antonio Urrutia, one of the performers on From the Top’s recent residency in the area, […]

This is a special look into Show 305. To listen, click here. When 14-year-old Matthew Hakkarainen pulled the bow across the strings of his violin and the last note of the Kreisler Praeludium and Allegro rang out through Gusman Concert Hall at the University of Miami’s Frost School of Music, the audience erupted in applause. […]

“When I was four, I took [my father’s] trumpet when he was taking a break, and I got a good sound.” Elmer Churampi told Christopher O’Riley on Show 268. “On that day, he told me that I was going to be a trumpet player.” And that he would. From the moment Elmer picked up the trumpet, […]

From the Top alum Kevin Olusola of Pentatonix beatboxes with fellow alum and violinist Kate Arndt, covering Sugar by Maroon 5. A From the Top video. Direct all inquiries to info@fromthetop.org. Like us on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/fromthetopfans Follow us on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/fromthetop Follow us on Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/fromthetopfans Check out our blog: …

In 2015, From the Top commissioned a new musical work from alum Michael Thurber, that would feature the next generation of classical musicians. His concerto, “The Three Musketeers: A play for instruments” premiered on From the Top’s live recording at Interlochen Center for the Arts on March 13. Excerpts from this piece will be broadcast […]

NEW SHOW: From Denver, Colorado, this week’s episode features a special guest appearance by one of America’s finest living film composers, Danny Elfman. Our young musicians perform arrangements of his music from the soundtracks of Milk and The Nightmare Before Christmas. Mr. Elfman also shares stories from his own colorful teenage years, and a phenomenal […]

  It’s that time of year again when we can go mad from one of two things. 1) a very slowly approaching spring (cough cough, if you live in Boston), or 2) sports, specifically the NCAA tournament. For those of you “non sports” types, that’s basketball. College basketball, to be even more specific. How does this […]

“Jump right in!” a young lady with long brown hair belts out from the stage, her foot tapping as she dances along with the music, “Let the music pull you in, jump right in!” The more than 500 middle and high school students in the audience here in Hazard, Kentucky are very familiar with this […]

NPR’s From the Top with Host Christopher O’Riley features many string players, pianists, and wind and brass musicians. But it’s not often that we are able to feature an organ player on our show. One such exception occurred back in 2010 when we welcomed 15-year-old Karen Christianson from Media, Pennsylvania on Show 223 in in […]

This is pianist Anna Boonyanit reflecting on her journey to performing on NPR’s From the Top with Host Christopher O’Riley, Show 281. She was 14 years old at the time.  My Home – February 9, 2014 7:19 pm My name had just been announced through my antiquated JVC radio propped on the floor of my bedroom. I had […]

NEW SHOW: From Wellesley, Massachusetts, this week’s From the Top pays tribute to Jewish composers and Jewish music. A precocious 12-year-old violinist performs the music of George Gershwin, a young tenor performs his own composition inspired by the great twentieth century Jewish poet Hannah Senesh, and the show’s finale features the great sound of Klezmer […]

On Friday, February 20th, From the Top’s Education team lead its group of young musicians through the snow-banked streets of Boston. This particular Friday evening would be a bit different than others, and not just because of the weather. Amid the winding, bustling halls of the Boston Children’s Museum, there is a special, large space designed specifically for […]

This is part 2 of the “Alumni in Action” series about our young musicians working with YoungArts and Joshua Bell for an HBO Documentary. Read part 1 here. Before we get to our young musicians’ experiences with Joshua Bell in London, there was one more in New York that made the record books. Here is […]

REPEAT SHOW: From the Snow Pond Center for the Arts in Sidney, Maine, this week’s From the Top features one of the strongest teenage oboists From the Top has encountered in the past few years performing a gorgeous Élégie by Francis Poulenc; a 14-year-old violinist performs Vieuxtemp’s virtuosic showpiece, the Yankee Doodle Variations; and we […]

From the Top’s young classical musicians rock out to Best Day of My Life by American Authors. A From the Top video. Direct all inquiries to info@fromthetop.org. Like us on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/fromthetopfans Follow us on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/fromthetop Follow us on Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/fromthetopfans Check out our blog: http://198.199.68.57/blog …