Category: Alumni

Last year 17-year-old flutist Chaz Salazar performed on From the Top’s Mesa, AZ taping in November as a Jack Kent Cooke Young Artist Award recipient. These days, Chaz is involved in several projects, including leading flute sectionals and giving private lessons to a few students at his old elementary school in Phoenix, AZ. As a […]

This just in… an exclusive interview with Christopher O’Riley is now on the Chopin Society of Atlanta’s web site. Get the inside scoop from our host. If you are in New York this weekend, be sure to check out From the Top alum Anna Lee performing with the Park Avenue Chamber Symphony. Fellow alums Sirena […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

We are always thrilled to hear from past From the Top performers. Here is another round of updates from our accomplished alumni.  To our alumni and parents: keep them coming! 17-year-old cellist Julian Schwartz, who was on From the Top’s radio show in 2007, was profiled in a recent issue of Teen Strings. Matt Sircely’s […]

Below is the second edition of a new series of “Audition Stories”, a fistful of firsthand reports on what it takes to get on From the Top. We’ll cover details from the toughest application question to the fateful phone call and everything in between. Of course, the best way to find out what auditioning is […]

Patrick McGuire is back from Tanzania! The 19-year-old cellist and From the Top alum has completed the two-week arts program for young adults called the “Arusha Arts Initiative” that he designed with five of his peers at Juilliard. (If you want the backstory, we blogged it! Here‘s an interview we did with Patrick when he […]

-Lily Kaiser Below is the first edition of a new series of “Audition Stories”, a fistful of firsthand reports on what it takes to get on From the Top. We’ll cover details from the toughest application question to the fateful phone call and everything in between. Of course, the best way to find out what […]

Last week our TV production partner Don Mischer produced an event for the Democratic National Committee in Los Angeles and invited From the Top to recommend a performer. 10-year-old guitarist Roberto Granados, a LA native, who was featured on our broadcast in Lubbock, TX earlier this year, was available to perform and by all accounts […]

From the Top Alum and Jack Kent Cooke Young Artist, Ren Martin-Doike along with friends Sangwoo Kim, Alex Ayers, and Jake Woollen performed as a string quartet for the entire first grade class at the Fairview Elementary school on May 14 in her hometown of Bloomington, IN.  This year Ren was a part of a […]

16-year-old guitarist Chaconne Klaverenga from Lafayette, Indiana played a guitar concerto with Buffalo Philharmonic Music Director JoAnnn Falletta on From the Top this winter. Now she is one of ten semifinalists in the Parkening Youth Guitarist Competition to be held on May 26 and 27 at Pepperdine University in Malibu, Cal. Christopher Parkening appeared on […]

Tony Rymer, a 19-year-old cellist from Dorchester, MA, appeared on From the Top with a string quartet from his music program, ProjectSTEP, back when he was in high school. In addition to playing on the show, he received one of From the Top’s first Jack Kent Cooke Young Artist Awards and later used some of […]

Two From the Top alumni have been named as recipients of the prestigious Presidential Scholar in the Arts award. Nate West, double bass, and Andrea Jarrett, violin are two of 20 recipients (and two of only four instrumentalists) nationally to be named a 2009 Presidential Scholar in the Arts! “Of the three million students expected […]

Chad Hoopes, who appeared on From the Top at Carnegie Hall and will be featured on From the Top’s upcoming Telarc Records CD “From the Top at the Pops”, was on the CBS Early Show on Friday, along with his sisters Anna and Alexandra. Watch CBS Videos Online

From the Top Jack Kent Cooke Young Artist Clifton Williams will appear on this week’s national broadcast of From the Top on NPR and is featured in today’s Washington Post. Clifton, a 17-year-old pianist from Washington, DC is among the 100 recipients who have received a $10,000 award through a partnership between From the Top […]