Blog/News

Kids teaching other kids—what could be more powerful? That’s exactly what happens every Wednesday afternoon at Phillips Academy in Andover, MA, when elementary and middle school students from the Lawrence Family Development and Education Fund Charter School and the Leonard School in Lawrence, MA arrive for free instrumental lessons, taught by Phillips Academy students through […]

Violinist Jenny Lee and violist Ren Martin-Doike, both of Bloomington, Indiana, are the two winners of the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra’s Side-By-Side Concerto Competition. On April 21, Jenny will perform the fourth movement of Max Bruch’s Scottish Fantasy and Ren will perform the first movement of William Walton’s Viola Concerto with the ISO at the Hilbert […]

We are pleased to announce the first recipients of the Margaret Stewart Lindsay Arts Leadership Awards, a new program that encourages high school and collegiate musicians to give back to their communities through the arts. Through this program, From the Top will provide grants and mentoring for three community projects this year. A shared grant […]

– by Lauren Chipman “Look at her hair!” “I think she’s in a rock band.” “Whoa….” I don’t look like your typical classical musician getting ready to work with a group of 4th grade violinists, but my appearance reflects who I am and what I do for a living. I lead a very eclectic life […]

Today is National Arts Advocacy Day! Our friends at Americans for the Arts have organized hundreds of dedicated arts supporters from across the country to come together in Washington, DC to tell Capitol Hill how important culture is to our communities, how much arts education means to our children, and how much the arts improve […]

From the Top’s broadcast this week was taped at the Lobero Theatre in Santa Barbara, California on January 27, 2010. We asked our performers to tell us about the music they played on the show: Jonathan Miron, 17, violin “The Foundation of Arethusa” from Myths, Three Poems for Violin & Piano by Karol Szymanowski “When […]

Last week, From the Top alums Nathan Chan, 16 (Radio show #207) and Simone Porter, 13, (radio show #165 and From the Top at Carnegie Hall‘s Episode 206) performed with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of 17-year-old conductor Alexander Prior.  The concert was held at the Barbican in London and raised money for […]

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 […]