Category: Arts Leadership

“Making connections and friendships with From the Top Fellows was a beautiful experience and getting to bond over our shared passions for changing the mold of our field was really refreshing and inspiring.” – Gabriela Salvador Riera Congratulations to From the Top’s 2023-2024 Fellows! This season, 108 young musicians from across the United States joined […]

As we complete our 2022-2023 season of learning, we wanted to take a moment to acknowledge the 87  young musicians who completed From the Top’s Learning and Media Lab Fellowship. Each Fellow… Completed seven online learning sessions focusing on community engagement, artist life, and content creation/recording! Completed a community engagement project such as a virtual […]

From the Top would like to share a volunteer opportunity that one of our community partners, Bravo Waukegan, is putting forward for From the Top alumni who are age 20+. If you have an interest in virtually teaching/mentoring a high school music student one-on-one over a 10 – 15 week period, contact us to learn […]

Today, Tuesday September 22nd is National Voter Registration Day. Alumni of From the Top daily remind us what the power of expressing their voice through music can do. Now, we all have the power to share our voice and VOTE. Make Your Voice Heard. Watch Alumni Testimonials on Instagram. From the Top alumni Charles Yang, Conor […]

The “lazy days of summer” is not an expression that applies to From the Top’s industrious alumni who are accomplishing a lot during these hot months. From benefit concerts to providing virtual access to music and arts education, our network is BUSY, and we have a lot to report in today’s update. As a reminder, […]

Recently, we started this column as a way to highlight the inspiring work of alumni during this global pandemic. We’re here today with a few more incredible updates, keep your tissues handy! Alumni, please continue to send updates to info@fromthetop.org. Dr. Rachel Easterwood appeared on From the Top in 2001 on Show 46 performing from […]

Here at From the Top, we’ve used this time to check in on our extended family of alumni. We have been delighted to receive updates from many alumni who have inventively shifted their work to help others during this pandemic. Their leadership is inspiring. Many others are calling on musical projects to offer hope and […]

What connects skateboarding and Paganini Violin Caprices? For Phillip Hammond, 17 year-old violinist from Bloomington, Indiana and a recipient of From the Top’s Jack Kent Cooke Young Artist Award, it’s all about taking risks. Being able to pull off these techniques, whether on a skateboard or on a violin, requires him to be committed and […]

This article was adapted from a blog post published by Eunice Lee in August 2019. It is part of our ongoing series exploring the projects launched by the recipients of our Alumni Leadership Grant. Special thanks to the Howard and Geraldine Polinger Family Foundation for their support of From the Top’s Alumni Leadership Grants. Eunice Lee is […]

On a Wednesday afternoon, eleven From the Top young musicians gathered in Boston to begin a 4-day residency. They arrived as strangers; some having traveled across the country to be there. One goal was clear – the young musicians had to prepare for a performance and recording for NPR’s From the Top radio show. (In fact, the group […]

When we travel to hold auditions, we are as excited to meet new young musicians as we are to catch up with our fast-growing network of alumni in that area. This past July, Executive Director Gretchen Nielsen, Director of Development & External Relations Emily Borababy, and Scholarship and Recruitment Manager Javier Caballero held auditions at […]

On a rainy day in March, six young artists (see bottom) gathered in Boston’s historic Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. It was the day before their performance on NPR’s From the Top and, since they had all met each other the previous evening at an ISGM Third Thursdays event, the reunion was brief but full of […]

This week, From the Top airs Show 367 with guest host Peter Dugan featuring the talents of 6 inspiring young musicians from across the country. Their stories are compelling, from 17-year-old Zachary Potts’ inspiring story about leaving the U.S. for the first time to see his horn teacher perform with the Berlin Philharmonic, to Los […]

From the Top is thrilled to announce the two recipients of the 2019 From the Top Alumni Leadership Grant, 19-year-old pianist Amir Siraj and 20-year-old pianist Eunice Lee! The Alumni Leadership Grant, generously funded by the Howard and Geraldine Polinger Family Foundation, seeks to support alumni of From the Top’s media and arts leadership programs […]

NPR’S FROM THE TOP TO CONVENE IN LOS ANGELES FOR THREE-DAY RESIDENCY  Pianist Peter Dugan Guest Hosts Studio Recordings  Producer, Singer and DJ Alex Seaver (MAKO) leads music-making sessions  Leadership and Community Engagement workshops offer firsthand experience in creative career development FEBRUARY 23-25, 2019 From the Top (FTT), the nationwide program distributed by NPR that […]

With 2018 solidly behind us, we finally had the chance to look back, take stock, and pull out some of our favorite moments from last year. From fantastically fun videos to empowering young musicians to make an impact in their community, 2018 was a year to remember. 1: Two of our music videos were included in WQXR’s […]

Guitarist Nicholas Padmanabhan performed on NPR’s From the Top with Host Christopher O’Riley in March 2018. You can listen to his performance, airing on stations nationwide the week of May 28, 2018, here. Like all FTT performers, Nicholas went through our Arts Leadership Orientation, where he and his peers explored leadership concepts and planned for a community engagement […]

This article is part of our ongoing series exploring the projects launched by the recipients of our Alumni Leadership Grant. 2017 was the pilot year for From the Top’s Alumni Leadership Grant, which funds leadership initiatives launched by our alumni all across the country. One of those grants supported FTT alum Avik Sarkar as he spearheaded a benefit concert […]

This article is part of our ongoing series exploring the projects launched by the recipients of our Alumni Leadership Grant. We’re in the second year of offering our Alumni Leadership Grant, a program that funds arts leadership initiatives pursued by our alumni. Angelica Hairston received the grant in its pilot year, and we caught up with her about […]

We are pleased to announce the selection of three outstanding From the Top alumni as recipients of the 2018 Alumni Leadership Grant: 19-year-old violinist Corinne Auger 21-year-old violinist Ariel Horowitz 21-year-old baritone Thomas West The Alumni Leadership Grant, which began in 2017, seeks to support alumni of From the Top’s media and arts leadership programs who […]