Category: Alumni

From the Top alum and violinist Karen Cueva, who performed on Show 187 in Boston, MA in October 2008, had a remarkable summer participating in the Teen Arts Performance Camp (T.A.P. Camp) in Maryland as a teaching artist. Below, Karen explains the idea behind T.A.P. Camp and discusses some of the amazing experiences she had with music and […]

From the Top alum Leeza Ali has been embarking on quite the Arts Leadership project for the past few years. She’s been holding concerts to raise money for P.E.C.A. – Partnership for the Education of Children in Afghanistan. We will cover her work in a blog series – below you can read about Leeza’s inspiration […]

The Emerald Quartet, who performed on this week’s show from Gettysburg, PA, put together a really funny “From the Top Rap.” We made it into a video for you! Check it out:

9 year-old pianist and Jack Kent Cooke Young Artist Umi Garrett (who appeared on last week’s From the Top broadcast with the Boston Pops) joined the Desert Symphony on their Children’s Music Discovery Series to perform Mozart’s Piano Concerto no.23 in A Major. The concert was held on April 16, 2010 at the McCallum Theatre […]

We just got news that From the Top alum Arianna Körting won first place in the 5th Julia Crane International Piano Competition. This is especially exciting because she’s the first ever contestant to receive a unanimous vote from the international jury! This year’s competition took place from September 10-12 at the Crane School of Music at […]

It’s that time of year again – back to school – and for many From the Top alums, this means embarking on a new stage of their life: college! In honor of our higher-education-bound performers, we’ve compiled this quick update on where they’ll be this year. Please join us in wishing them well! Julian Langford […]

From the Top alum Clark Pang, who appeared on the first episode of From the Top at Carnegie Hall, as well as radio show 215 in Portland, Maine this past March, had the opportunity to perform abroad this summer!  This 14-year-old cellist traveled to Costa Rica with the Oakland Youth Orchestra on their World Tour. This […]

Hopefully you’ve been following harpist and From the Top alum Anna DeLoi’s summer Arts Leadership project – she got together an ensemble and has been touring, raising money for CureSearch. You can read more about her ensemble, Heartstrings, and what they’ve been doing this summer here. We just got an update from her on Heartstrings‘ […]

Simon Estes is a perfect example of a true Arts Leader. This Iowa native and world-renowned opera singer has established not only a school in South Africa for some of the continent’s poorest children, but also the Simon Estes Iowa Educational Foundation, “a multiracial, nonprofit organization that provides positive minority role model programs and scholarships […]

This is the second installment of our Parents’ Perspective blog series, which is meant to share information, hints, and knowledge about raising musical kids. You can read the first blog about musical beginnings here. Today’s topic: Your kid wants to study an instrument – now what? Our parent panel gives some tips on finding music […]

Because From the Top tapes radio shows across the country, we often fly in young musicians from different states to appear on broadcast tapings. If you’re a musician, you know traveling with your instrument can sometimes be tricky. The American Federation of Musician recently launched this petition to make air travel more friendly for musicians. […]

As you know, From the Top showcases the best young musical talent from across the country. But what about the support behind these amazing kids – the parents? We’ve set out to tap into the rich knowledge base of From the Top performer parents in an effort to share information, stories, and encouragement on raising […]

In May, we posted the inspiring ambitions of harpist Anna DeLoi, who has spent the summer traveling and performing with her ensemble Heartstrings to raise funds for CureSearch, a children’s cancer research foundation. The group has achieved a great deal these past two months. Anna joined forces with two musician friends, Nash Ryder and Keith […]

We recently received an amazing email from alum and Jack Kent Cooke Young Artist Bella Markham, who you may remember had a fantastic Arts Leadership project we profiled a few weeks ago.  We share her thoughts below on how the Jack Kent Cooke Young Artist Award has changed her life. When I received the Jack […]

If you reside in Boston, make sure to mark your calendars for December 5, 2010 – From the Top alum and violinist Caroline Goulding will be appearing at 1:30pm at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum as part of their Sunday concert series. She’ll perform a few different pieces and will be accompanied by Shuai Wang […]

On Friday, July 30 pianist George Li, who performed on From the Top’s 2006 show in Boston and appeared on the PBS show From the Top at Carnegie Hall, won first place at Oberlin College’s Thomas and Evon Cooper International Competition. He won with Chopin’s Piano Concerto No. 1 in E minor, Op. 11, with Jahja […]

Great news from Roberto Granados, a From the Top alum from our Lubbock, Texas show.  He was recently contacted by the California Symphony, who requested he join them on May 1, 2011 to perform three movements from Joaquin Rodrigo’s “Concierto de Aranjuez.”  He has commissioned a local luthier to have a special classical guitar made for […]

Violinist Stephen Waarts, who appeared on our 2009 show in Stanford, California, has been busy this summer! After winning second place in the Menuhin Competition earlier this year, Stephen performed with two symphonies in California – on May 23rd he played Mozart Violin Concerto No. 4 with the Prometheus Symphony and on June 6 he performed Brahms Violin Concerto […]

We just got word that 14-year-old violinist Stephen Kim, who appeared on our radio show in Mobile, Alabama in January 2009, recently won two musical awards. He received the Gold Medal in the 11th California International Young Artists Violin Competition in San Diego on June 13, which he shared with a 24 year old violinist. […]

We love when From the Top performers take Arts Leadership to the next level – 14 year-old violist Isabella Markham, a Jack Kent Cook Young Artist, has done just that by organizing a small concert series for a retirement center with the help of her brother and seven friends.  She titled the performance “Bella Palooza” […]