Blog/News

About two hundred years ago, the great Italian virtuoso Niccolo Paganini wrote 24 Caprices for Solo Violin. Ever since, they have been considered the hardest pieces written for the instrument. From the Top alum William Harvey is going to learn and perform all 24. Why? You ask. He’s doing it as a fundraiser for his […]

This week’s From the Top episode, taped at the Holland Performing Arts Center in Omaha, Nebraska, features a variety of instruments and repertoire- from a trombone solo to a marimba quartet. Read what the performers have to say about the music. Sangbin “Bihn” Park, 12, cello I. Adagio and III Allegro di molto from Divertimento […]

-Kathryn J Bacasmot Living on the East Coast for the past five years has given me plenty of practice in verbally defending my home state, Nebraska. I have honestly grown to relish the laundry list of questions, the looks of disbelief, and the subsequent thinly veiled attempts to recover and come off sounding politely intrigued: […]

From the Top alum George Li, who wowed audiences on the first season of From the Top at Carnegie Hall and charmed Martha Stewart on her show, recently returned to his hometown of Boston from a concert tour of Sweden. The 14-year-old pianist performed in three Swedish cities with the Nordic Chamber Orchestra, under the […]

The Music Center Spotlight Awards are inviting applicants from young performing and visual artists in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, Ventura, Santa Barbara, and San Diego counties in California. Learn more: http://www.musiccenter.org/education/spot_index.html

On this week’s show, we reconnect with 26-year-old violinist and Cultures in Harmony founder, William Harvey. William first appeared on From the Top’s pilot episode and returns to the show as part of our special 10th anniversary alumni spotlight series. You can listen to the episode at fromthetop.org and learn more about William’s mission to […]

This week’s show, recorded at the WGBH Fraser Performance Studio in Boston, begins From the Top’s 10th Anniversary celebration. In addition to featuring special alumni guest, William Harvey, the show also includes a 9-year-old flutist, a chamber ensemble from the New England Conservatory’s Youth Philharmonic Orchestra, a counter tenor and a clarinet trio. We asked […]

10-year-old guitarist and From the Top alum, Roberto Granados represented From the Top at the Daytime Emmys last weekend in Los Angeles, where From the Top at Carnegie Hall picked up two Emmys. Performing before the ceremony, Roberto was complimented by Ming Tsai of PBS’s Simply Ming, as being  ‘to the guitar what Tiger Woods […]

We are deeply saddened by the loss of our friend Erich Kunzel today.  He was a great champion for classical music in America, and a wonderful supporter of the next generation of musicians. He was truly one of From the Top’s role models. We feel very fortunate to have collaborated with him and his incredible […]

From the Top’s first recording collaboration with Telarc  and Erich Kunzel and the Cincinnati Pops, From the Top at the Pops, was officially released last Tuesday. The album has already received kudos from a number of critics and bloggers. On Tuesday, September 8, From the Top and the Pops will throw a New York coming […]

We are pleased to announce that From the Top at Carnegie Hall received two Emmy Awards at this weekend’s Daytime Creative Arts Emmy Ceremony. The awards were for: Outstanding Children’s Series and Achievement in Multiple Camera Editing. Congratulations to the entire production team including: From the Top, Don Mischer Productions, WGBH and our partner Carnegie […]

This week Secretary of Education Arne Duncan engaged in a public conference call on the subject of arts education with more 2,000 educators, advocates, leaders, and concerned citizens.  Our Education Program Manager Jenny Meyburg joined in on the discussion. Keep reading to learn more about what was discussed on the call: 

Johann Sebastian Bach’s biggest fan is quite possibly a thirteen-year-old girl from Palo Alto, CA. But pianist Hilda Huang is way beyond most thirteen-year-olds. For starters, she wowed a national audience with her music, (and her Bach obsession), two years ago on the PBS series From the Top at Carnegie Hall, and did it all […]

Classical music blogs are all a-Twitter with news of the Royal Opera House’s plan to create the world’s first Twitter Opera. The concept is that anyone who has a Twitter account can contribute, 140 characters at a time, to the opera’s lyrics. They will then be set to original music and performed next month. Aisle […]

In 2008, pianist Nicholas King was a Jack Kent Cooke Young Artist on From the Top’s radio show. At the time, he was already an impressive example of Arts Leadership: when he was as young as seven years old, he began to raise money for Children’s Hospital in LA. After years of helping and inspiring […]

Now is a great time to be Caroline Goulding. Never mind that Caroline has been on From the Top’s radio show three times and played with Bela Fleck on the PBS TV series From the Top at Carnegie Hall. Or that at 16, she’s already performed with more than nine orchestras. Or that she plays […]

Television host Rachel Maddow was recently at Jacob’s Pillow talking about the importance of the arts in our country. “A country without an expectation of minimal artistic literacy, without a basic structure by which the artists among us can be awakened and given the choice of following their talents and a way to get to […]

The Davidson Institute announced their Fellows yesterday and we spotted From the Top alumni in each division. Congratulations go to: Melody Lindsay, 17, harpist from Honolulu, Hawaii; Sarina Zhang, 13, cellist and pianist from San Diego, CA; and Connie Kim-Sheng, 17 of La Crescenta, CA for receiving scholarships and to Simone Porter,  of Seattle, WA […]

Way back in 2006, pianist Ji-Yong appeared on From the Top’s radio show at the age of 14. But even then, the pressure of a performance on national radio was nothing new to him. Ji-Yong was signed to a major artist management company at a tender 10 years old, and he’s been playing professionally ever […]

From the Top at Carnegie Hall has been awarded a 2009 Gabriel Award in the Television Arts Category. These awards are presented by the CBA (Catholic Broadcasters Association) to “recognize outstanding artistic achievement in a television or radio program or series which entertains and enriches with a true vision of humanity and true vision of […]