Blog/News

Photo: Chantell Ziegler From the Top alum Molly Yeh (pronounced “yay!”) went to Juilliard to study percussion but came away with a love for food that has spawned a career in culinary writing. Her blog, my name is yeh, chronicles her life on a sugar-beet farm on the North Dakota-Minnesota border with her farmer husband, eggboy (a […]

We believe in the power of music in the hands of young musicians. Do you? Join From the Top alumni, fans, and family in trumpeting (pun intended) the awesomeness that young musicians bring to the world by adding your note to our #Note4Note online giving campaign. Here’s how it works: 1. You give a dollar, […]

What happens when 8 classically-trained musicians, 8 vocalists, 10 visual artists, and one rap artist come together? The answer is our latest music video, a cover of Jon Batiste & Stay Human’s “Express Yourself (Say Yes)”. We filmed this video at the Epicenter of Artists for Humanity, a non-profit here in our hometown of Boston. […]

Happy #ArtsMatterDay, Massachusetts!  Arts & culture drive the economy, enhance education, build community, and embrace diversity & inclusion. They encourage us to explore new and unfamiliar ideas in safe spaces. Karen Cueva, a recipient of the Jack Kent Cooke Scholarship and a From the Top alum, writes: “The arts matter because they offer multiple entry points to […]

Why Should I Learn How To Transpose? Let’s say we’re a trumpet quintet who was just hired for a Sunday morning church gig (hey, it could happen), and we’ve been told: “No need to come to a rehearsal, you’ll just be sight-reading some easy hymns.” When we arrive, the director hands us a hymnal and […]

Welcome to the new CDAL Class of 2016–2017 For the past six years, young musicians in the Greater Boston area have applied to join our Center for the Development of Arts Leaders (CDAL) here in our hometown. CDAL is the only program in Greater Boston focused on leadership training for pre-collegiate and collegiate classically-trained musicians. This […]

What would it look like to launch a new orchestra from the ground up while trying to be accessible, appealing, and, most importantly, social? That is the question that From the Top alum and conductor Matthew Szymanski posed to a group of like-minded friends back in 2014. Over time, the answer became clear and Matt […]

Can’t Stop the Feeling If you’re like us, there was a moment this past summer when you saw the music video for Justin Timberlake’s summer hit “Can’t Stop the Feeling”, and you couldn’t help but cheer for all those awesome folks getting down and dancing. Well, here’s another reason to cheer – six incredible young […]

Check out a preview of our next music video, a Justin Timberlake cover filmed atop Aspen Mountain and featuring outstanding young musicians studying at the Aspen Music Festival and School. We’re not quite ready to let go of summer just yet…let’s keep the good times going with a little classically-infused pop fun! You can see […]

Happy Monday everyone! I know the school year’s ramping up for many of us, but I still got this feeling – it’s sort of inside my bones, really – that this summer might have some good times left up its sleeve, and I’ll tell you why. A couple of weeks ago, a few of us […]

Violinist Suliman Tekalli, an alum who was 12 years old when he appeared on From the Top with Host Christopher O’Riley on Show 22, is now a 28-year-old prolific performer and composer who is involved in several important areas of the classical world. We caught up with him to hear about his musical adventures. What do you […]

24-year-old pianist, Clifton Williams appeared on NPR’s From the Top with Host Christopher O’Riley on  Show 195, recorded in March 2009 at age 19, and then again on Show 296, recorded in October 2014 at age 22. In conjunction with his first performance on the show, he also received From the Top’s Jack Kent Cooke Young Artist Award. Here […]

22-year-old violinist Kenneth Renshaw appeared on From the Top with Host Christopher O’Riley most recently on Show 228, recorded in February 2011. Previously he appeared on Shows 211 and 186. In conjunction with his first performance on the show in 2008, he received From the Top’s Jack Kent Cooke Young Artist Award. Here is what he has been up to since […]

24-year-old clarinetist Matthew Dykeman appeared on From the Top with Host Christopher O’Riley on Show 199, recorded in June 2009. On the show, he received From the Top’s Jack Kent Cooke Young Artist Award. Here is what Matthew has been up to since then, along with some of his thoughts on how the award has impacted his […]

Arts Leadership in Action Join us this week as members of our Center for the Development of Arts Leaders (CDAL) work with students at the Conservatory Lab Charter School (CLCS)  in Dorchester, Massachusetts. The CLCS students had to learn an entirely new piece of music, put it together as a group, and perform it at […]

Hello readers! It’s only been two weeks since I started the Klarman fellowship but I feel like I’ve done so much already! Last week I went on a trip to Michigan where the Interlochen Summer Arts Camp is in session, where I actually spent my summers as a tiny fourth grader skipping around campus singing […]

24-year-old soprano Natanya Washer appeared on From the Top with Host Christopher O’Riley on Show 199, recorded in June of 2009. On the show, she received From the Top’s Jack Kent Cooke Young Artist Award. Here is what she has been up to since then, along with some of her thoughts on how the award has impacted […]

Nicholas Padmanabhan, a student at the Palo Alto High School, has played classical guitar for nine years and frequently performs in both formal concert venues and community outreach programs. You may have first heard him when he performed with the San Francisco Conservatory Guitar Quartet on NPR’s From the Top with Host Christopher O’Riley on Show 301 […]

15-year-old violinist Maya Buchanan first appeared on From the Top with Host Christopher O’Riley on Show 276, recorded in September of 2013, at the age of 13. Since then, she has gone on to win and place in prestigious competitions and is returning to our show on August 14th! Maya’s Recent Accomplishments In July of 2016, Maya was awarded […]

Hi everyone! My name is Haruno Sato, and I am so excited to be working from behind the scenes at From the Top as the Klarman fellow this summer! For the past year, I have been working here as the resident “listener,” or more formally called the Primary Screener (I will elaborate on that a little […]