Blog/News

Multiple From the Top alumni received awards at the Fifth Annual Mondavi Center Young Artists Competition at the University of California, Davis. The California-based Soleil Trio, comprised of violinist Kenneth Renshaw, 16, cellist Will Chow, 16, and pianist Reiko Tsuchida, 15, won the Chamber Ensemble Award in the Senior Division. The trio performs on an […]

Congratulations to 17-year-old pianist Jingxuan Zhang, who held a solo benefit recital on March 27th to raise money for the Performing Arts Department at his high school in Indiana, which has been hit by recent budget cuts. Around 450 people attended the 50-minute concert, which raised $2,330. Jingxuan, a Jack Kent Cooke Young Artist, is […]

Pianist Hilda Huang placed third in the Seventh International Würzburg J. S. Bach Competition (first and second prizes were not awarded). She played the “Goldberg” Variations in the final round of the contest, held in Bavaria, Germany in March. The competition is open to all musicians under age 36, but Hilda is just 14, and […]

Earlier this season, we featured From the Top alum William Harvey as the first profile in our 10th Anniversary Alumni Spotlight Series. In the fall, William told us he had accepted a position as a music teacher at the Afghanistan National Institute of Music and he would be moving to Kabul this spring. William has […]

15-year-old pianist Sahun “Sam” Hong, who appeared on From the Top last fall, won First Prize in the Lennox International Young Artists Competition on January 9th, playing Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 3. Sam performed the concerto with the Richardson Symphony Orchestra on March 13th. Sam has also been busy with community outreach concerts. He performed […]

Violinist Dayna Anderson, who will graduate from the Curtis Institute of Music in May, recently became the concertmaster of the Delaware Symphony. At 22, she is the youngest person to hold the position in the orchestra’s 104-year history. Dayna appeared on From the Top in 2000 at the age of 12. Congrats Dayna! Three From […]

This week’s From the Top broadcast was taped in Jordan Hall at New England Conservatory in Boston, Massachusetts on Saturday February 6, 2010. We asked our performers to tell us about the music they performed on the show: Bobby Chen, 18, cello Pezzo Capriccioso by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky “I enjoy playing Pezzo Capriccioso because it […]

16-year-old cellist and budding actor Aaron Wolff, who appeared on From the Top last spring, has had a busy few weeks. “A Serious Man,” the Coen brothers film in which he plays the son of physics professor Larry Gopnik, was nominated for Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay at the Academy Awards. Aaron flew to […]

Hi everyone! I’m just winding down from a wonderful show we taped in Portland, Maine tonight in the beautiful Merrill Auditorium with Portland Ovations. The whole show was fantastic, but I wanted to share some of my favorite highlights with you. 17-year-old pianist Wil Bristol played a piece that called for him to use his […]

Pianist Patricio Molina, who was featured on From the Top’s TV show and is a recipient of our Jack Kent Cooke Young Artist Award, will perform in a series of concerts to raise money for the victims of the earthquake in Chile. A native of Chile, Patricio moved to the United States in 2004 to […]

This week’s From the Top broadcast was taped at the Lunalilo Center at the Kamehameha School in Hilo, Hawaii on January 22, 2010. We asked our performers to tell us about the music they performed on the show: Lilia Xie, 16, flute IV. Allegro con moto from Sonata for Flute & Piano, Op. 94 by […]

A nice article in Cleveland’s Plain Dealer about From the Top alum cellist Matthew Allen and his past life as a football player. http://www.cleveland.com/musicdance/index.ssf/2010/02/leaving_football_behind_cellis.html Matthew also appears on the CD From the Top at the Pops recorded with the Cincinnati Pops last year.

Check out this great opportunity to be an arts advocate – you could win up to $5000 for your school music program! DoSomething.org and the VH1 Save The Music Foundation want YOU to lead the fight to keep music education in schools. School budgets are being slashed nationwide. Music and arts programs are often the first to […]

Greetings from my flight back from Iowa City, where we had a taping last night at the Englert Theater. I must say I feel quite lucky to be on a plane right now! Some of my colleagues’ flights were cancelled due to a blizzard that’s about to hit the northeast. Assuming you are reading this […]

On this week’s broadcast of From the Top, we honor Honolulu piano teaching legend Ellen Masaki and Honokaa High School Jazz Band (Hawaii) Director Gary Washburn. Tell us about a music teacher that has made a difference in your life. We’ll feature some of our favorite entries  right here on our Green Room blog. Send […]

From the Top has named Jeffrey F. Rayport, Operating Partner at Castanea Partners in Boston, as Chairman of its Board of Directors. Rayport has been a member of From the Top’s board since its inception in 2003 and replaces its Founding Chairman Francis O. Hunnewell who passed in late January. “We feel very fortunate to […]

This week’s show was taped at the Kahilu Theatre in Waimea, Hawaii on Wednesday January 20, 2010. We asked our performers to tell us about the music they performed on the show: Daniel Tekunoff, 17, Guitar I. Allegretto from Sonatina by Lennox Berkeley The “Allegro” is a great piece of music that reminds me of […]

American Public Media’s Performance Today has partnered with the world-renowned Parker Quartet (featuring several From the Top alums) to offer an exciting national competition opportunity for young aspiring classical string quartets. Performance Today will award the winning quartet a Master Class with the Parker Quartet in APM’s state-of-the-art Maud Moon Weyerhaeuser Music Studio in St. […]

We are extremely saddened to learn of the passing of alum Aaron Pinsky after a battle with brain cancer. Aaron, 25, was a dedicated French Horn player who studied at New England Conservatory’s Prep School in Boston and performed twice in the Massachusetts All State Orchestra. He continued to perform as part of the Berkshire […]

As a high school student in South Bend, Indiana, LaMont Barlow had to make a difficult decision. Would he follow his passion for classical music down a path that would lead to conservatory studies and a career in music? Or would he pursue his interest in science at a liberal arts college and ultimately become […]