Blog/News

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 […]

Radio alum 12-year-old Maxim Lando (Show 283 recorded in Boston – listen here) and Lang Lang rehearsing Fazil Say’s jazz arrangement of Mozart Rondo Alla Turca before a WQXR broadcast.

From the Top with Host Christopher O’Riley first aired in the year 1999. We love to go back to those early days of the show to see what our very first alumni are up to now that they’ve truly reached adulthood. In the case of composer Eric Nathan, age 30 (Show 56, October 2001), his […]

REPEAT BROADCAST: Show 290, recorded in May 2014. From Norfolk, Virginia, at the Virginia Arts Festival, this episode features a steel drum band from the local community, and a violin-cello duo made up of two wonderfully talented brothers. Their unusually generous and easygoing humor with each other is not only charming, but it also makes […]

REPEAT BROADCAST: Show 289, recorded in April 2014. From Seattle, Washington, this program features a local teenage violinist delivering an emotional performance of the music of Ernest Bloch, teenagers from Chicago perform a thrilling, wild, and fun work for sax quartet, and we’ll enjoy the broadcast premiere of a new composition written by an 18-year-old from […]

Show 298, recorded in Greenville, South Carolina, in November 2014. This week’s episode features one of the strongest youth choirs in the “Palmetto State” performing a moving new work by a local South Carolina composer. We’ll also meet a euphonium player who performs with the speed and dexterity of a flutist, and we’ll enjoy Bach […]

Some of our recent radio show performers have a special message for you: From the Top is an independent non-profit organization. Though our radio show is distributed by NPR, we are not a public radio organization, and receive less than 8% of our revenues from radio carriage fees. Thanks to generous individual, corporate, and foundation […]

Growing up in Denver, Colorado, Trey Pernell was a student with many talents. Despite some significant challenges in his home life, Trey decided that he would not let that hardship keep him from achieving his goals. For him, “not achieving was not an option.” Beyond his academic pursuits, Trey has very diverse interests that include but also go beyond […]