Blog/News

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 …

Tour buses line the streets in San Francisco, filled with gawking visitors to the city, snapping pictures at the multitude of historic sights. On February 13, though, a 40-person bus parks in front of the Hotel Whitcomb to pick up some local teenage residents of the bay area. Fourteen musicians, all students at the San […]

“Glory”, from the movie Selma, was the winner for Best Song during last night’s Academy Awards. Join a bunch of talented From the Top musicians as they take us on a little musical journey through Oscar-winning songs of the past. And spoiler warning – the last one will get stuck in your head.

REPEAT SHOW: From North Carolina, this week’s show features the return appearance of a From the Top alum who went on to win a top prize at the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition this year. He’s the first American to become a medalist in over 16 years. We’ll also meet a teenage bassoonist with a […]

Happy frozen Friday from Boston. Check out our alum Nathan Chan‘s newest video. #fttalumni

Clare Semes, who appeared on Show 108 in 2004, has made a big name for herself in the violin world. Check out the video premier of her duo with violinist Chelsea Starbuck Smith. The group, called Les Deux, performs an original arrangement of variations on Leonard Bernstein’s West Side Story.

46-year-old violin star Joshua Bell didn’t appear on From the Top with Host Christopher O’Riley as a kid because, well, the show hadn’t been created yet! But in 1999, and again in 2005, he did indeed perform on the show as a guest artist, which makes him an honorary alum of the show in our books. […]

NEW SHOW: Show 300, recorded in February 2015. From our home in Boston, our 300th episode features an 11-year-old who is not only a precocious violinist, but happens to be a budding meteorologist — his long-term forecasts on YouTube are impressively accurate. A young cellist performs the gorgeous Andante movement from Rachmaninoff’s Sonata in G minor, […]

If there is such a thing as a typical From the Top alum, Sean Olanui Robbins of Puna, Hawaii is not one of them. When Sean performed on NPR’s From the Top with Host Christopher O’Riley (Show 210 in Kea’au, Hawaii) his instrument was, and happily still is, the guitar. But more specifically, Sean plays […]

Lauren Chipman, who first appeared on Show 46 at age 17, is now all grown up and taking the viola world by storm. A resident of Los Angeles, Lauren’s creative and multifaceted career as a musician has spanned many mediums and genres. Not only is she making waves in the classical world, but also jazz. That’s, right. […]

NEW SHOW: Show 299, recorded in December 2014. Enjoy an inspiring evening of exceptional music by some of our nation’s finest young classical musicians at Peak Performances at Montclair State University. Featuring the Shanghai Quartet, the Quartet-in-Residence at the John J. Cali School of Music. LISTEN NOW Shows are released on a weekly basis; please check your […]

This post is Part 3 of a three-part series about From the Top’s Fall 2014 residency at the Conservatory Lab Charter School (CLCS), an elementary school in Boston with a music-intensive curriculum. Read Part 1 here and Part 2 here.     It was a Friday afternoon at Conservatory Lab Charter School. A large room filled to the brim with elementary […]

REPEAT BROADCAST: Show 243, recorded in December 2011. This week, from the Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts, From the Top celebrates the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. through the eyes of today’s teenagers. You’ll hear the superb Boston Children’s Chorus sing several inspiring pieces and meet a 17-year-old bassoonist […]

To everyone who supported From the Top this past year, we want to express our thanks by sharing some of our favorite moments from 2014. Let’s take it From the Top. 1. In May, violinist Yuki Beppu, who performed most recently on Show 292, appeared on Good Morning America to reenact her viral rendition of a Lady […]