Category: Alumni

From the Top alum and oboist Yuga Cohler (Show 142, Granville) from Lexington, Massachusetts, is about to finish his senior year at Harvard University! Yuga has been serving as Music Director of the Harvard Bach Society, and has been accepted into the the Master of Music program in Conducting at Juilliard. He starts this fall, […]

18-year-old cellist John-Henry Crawford recently won First Prize in the Senior Division of the Philadelphia Orchestra’s 2011 Greenfield Competition. As a winner, he will solo next season in a concert with the Philadelphia Orchestra! John-Henry has appeared on From the Top twice, Show 206 in Dallas, TX in 2009 and Show 219 in Saint Paul, […]

16-year-old trumpet player and Jack Kent Cooke Young Artist Baldvin Oddsson appeared on Show #221 in Boston, Massachusetts last fall. Currently a junior at the Interlochen Arts Academy in Michigan, over the holidays Baldvin returned home to Reykjavik, Iceland, where he put on a small concert series as an Arts Leadership project.  He performed in […]

Big news for 18-year-old From the Top alum and violinist Caroline Goulding! On March 14, she was one of three recipients of the 2011 Avery Fisher Career Grant, awarded at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City. The other recipients were pianists Benjamin Hochman and Chu-Fang Huang. They join a distinguished […]

Last year we featured From the Top alum and pianist Stephanie Nilles as part of our 10th Anniversary Series. These days, Stephanie is based in New Orleans and has continued her musical shift away from the classical and towards jazz and punk. She recently released her fourth album, F*** Off Grizzly Bear (WARNING: adult language […]

Welcome to the fifth installment of The Parents’ Perspective – a mini blog series for parents by parents, to lend advice and share stories about raising musical children. For this post we’ve taken a slight detour in format. Blogger Katheryn Rivas approached us with an idea that we adapted for The Parents’ Perspective. Katheryn wrote […]

This week’s V-POW post from Music Producer Tom Vignieri will be slightly different. You’re likely to be blown away, but not for the reasons you’d expect. From the Top alumnus Michael Thurber is one of the most enterprising guys we know. Whether he’s emerging from a practice room with his double bass at Juilliard, recording […]

This past weekend, From the Top traveled to beautiful Athens to tape a radio show at the University of Georgia’s Performing Arts Center. Our four stellar young artists were joined by special guest flutist Sir James Galway, making for an unforgettable performance! The next morning, three of the four young performers joined us for the […]

From the Top Alum and past Roving Reporter and violinist Caeli Smith just sent us another great update. These days Caeli is studying at Juilliard and is a founding member of Rayos de Canción (Rays of Music), a group of students committed to raising awareness about the power of music to facilitate healing, especially in […]

We recently received an email from Kurt Anderson, a cellist who appeared on Show 009 in November, 1999. Kurt told us that he just had re-met From the Top host Christopher O’Riley at a concert in Huntsville, Alabama – Kurt’s hometown! On November 22, 1999, Kurt performed Allegro Appassionato by Camille Saint-Saëns on From the […]

As you might imagine, the music production team at From the Top is constantly reviewing recordings and music videos submitted by outstanding young musicians from across the country. We’re frequently blown away by the performances we see, and thought it might be fun to share some of these videos with you! These V-POW posts will […]

Mezzo-soprano Samantha Hankey, who recently appeared on Show #226 in Boston, MA, was a participant in the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts in Miami and was selected to receive their YoungArts Silver Award! Back in January, Samantha participated in YoungArts Week in Miami. She was one of 150 artists selected from 5,000 applicants […]

The Blount-Slawson Young Artists Competition is a prestigious annual competition open to students of strings, winds, brass, percussion, and piano, who are in seventh through twelfth grades. This year it took place January 29-30, and at the invitation of Helen Steineker, Executive Director of the Montgomery Symphony Orchestra, From the Top Music Producer Tom Vignieri […]

We just heard that From The Top alum Arianna Körting (Show 175 in Boston, MA) snagged First Prize in the first ever David D. Dubois International Piano Competition! 16-year-old Arianna is currently a student of Gerardo Teissonnière in the Preparatory Division of the Cleveland Institute of Music. The Dubois International Piano Competition was held at […]

15-year-old organist Karen Christianson has been busy since appearing on Show 223 in Abilene, Texas! This Saturday, February 5, Karen is featured on WWFM’s “Cadenza” with David Osenberg at 3pm. Karen’s From the Top show will also be rebroadcast on Saturday at 12pm, so if you’re in Eastern Pennsylvania or New Jersey, definitely tune in! […]

This just in – From the Top alum and soprano Megan Bell (Show 62, January 2002) recently sang with the touring educational outreach company “Opera for the Young.” Below she shares her arts leadership experience: Based in Madison, Wisconsin, Opera for the Young (OFY) is dedicated solely to performance outreach, which is part of what […]

Last week we shared a fantastic article on preparing for college auditions, written by From the Top alum Ren Martin-Doike. In the article, Ren mentioned a technique from violinist William Harvey, From the Top alum and founder of Cultures in Harmony. When William reappeared on From the Top in 2009 as part of our 10th […]

January means college auditions, so this post features a great article written by From the Top alum and Jack Kent Cooke Young Artist Ren Martin-Doike. Ren shares tips and hints for preparing for those college auditions, as well as interesting links and ideas for practicing. We hope you enjoy, and good luck if you’re auditioning […]

The semi-finalists for the 14th annual Sphinx Competition have been announced, and among them are several From the Top alums! The Sphinx Organization is a non profit that works to “overcome the cultural stereotype of classical music, and to encourage the participation of Blacks and Latinos in the field.” Each year their competition gives diverse […]

Symphony in C, a New Jersey symphony training orchestra, just announced its appointment of From the Top alum Megan Emigh as Principal Flautist beginning this season! Megan has appeared twice on From the Top, first on Show 070 in New York, New York and again on Show 085 in New Brunswick, New Jersey. Megan recently graduated […]