Category: Scholarship

22-year-old harpist Sage Po appeared on From the Top with Host Christopher O’Riley on Show 199, recorded in June 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 her […]

24-year-old violinist Karen Cueva appeared on NPR’s From the Top with Host Christopher O’Riley Show 187, recorded in October 2008, at age 17. In conjunction with her performance on the show, she also received From the Top’s Jack Kent Cooke Young Artist Award. Karen considers herself to be both a violinist and an educator who is passionate about issues of […]

Violist Kallie Ciechomski first appeared on From the Top with Host Christopher O’Riley in 2006. She sent us this update: enjoy! My first appearance on NPR’s From the Top with Host Christopher O’Riley was on Show 136 in 2006, as a recipient of the Jack Kent Cooke Young Artist Award. The $10,000 scholarship and the opportunity to perform […]

Angelica Hairston knows how to make a harp sing. You may have first heard her work her magic when she performed on NPR’s From the Top with Host Christopher O’Riley Show 228 in Athens, Georgia, at age 17. “It was such a blast to be a part of something that was simultaneously youthful and innovative, and […]

Pianist Youlan Ji performed on Show 309, recorded in July 2015, at age 15. She was also a recipient of From the Top’s Jack Kent Cooke Young Artist Award. Everyone who receives this award is required to do an arts leadership outreach project where they take their music beyond the concert hall and out into the community. Here, Youlan describes […]

“When I was four, I took [my father’s] trumpet when he was taking a break, and I got a good sound.” Elmer Churampi told Christopher O’Riley on Show 268. “On that day, he told me that I was going to be a trumpet player.” And that he would. From the moment Elmer picked up the trumpet, […]

Music is often referred to as the “universal language.” 17-year-old violinist Chelsea Kim knows this is true. Having moved several times throughout her childhood, Chelsea performed in retirement centers, hospitals, and churches in every new community. This gave her a sense of music’s power to connect people, a theme that would become very important to her life’s […]

Over the last 10 years, From the Top and the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation have worked hard to ensure that financial need does not keep extraordinary young people from realizing their dreams. More than $2 million in scholarships have been awarded to more than 200 young musicians through the From the Top Jack Kent Cooke […]

NAME: Mira Williams AGE: 16 HOMETOWN: Chicago, Illinois INSTRUMENT: Viola PERFORMED ON: Shows 277 and 287 Mira Williams is a dedicated and passionate young musician with strong beliefs and a firm commitment to improving her music. In April, she stepped up to the microphone at the New World Center in Miami Beach, Florida, and stunned […]

NAME: Gregorio Lopes AGE: 18 HOMETOWN: Bloomington, Indiana INSTRUMENT: Violin and viola PERFORMED ON: Show 283 “My favorite part about playing music has come to be its healing quality,” says 18-year-old violinist/violist Gregorio Lopes. When his ensemble, the Violin Virtuosi, traveled to Brazil, Gregorio remembers playing for children who lived in shanty towns and being […]

“As a young artist and leader, I firmly believe that it is my responsibility to inspire and connect with the public through classical music.”  After appearing on Show 263 in Davis, California, with The Angeles Trio, 19-year-old violinist and Jack Kent Cooke Young Artist Kristina Zlatereva created a powerful musical experience for students at the […]

16-year-old cellist Taeguk Mun wanted to support the efforts of his church, Hyo Shin Bible Presbyterian Church of New York, NY, in their missions abroad. He organized a recital to benefit a charity program supporting children in Bangladesh, and managed to raise just under $1,000 for the cause! With the help of his church, his […]

Violist and Jack Kent Cooke Young Artist Marcus Rose is a 17-year-old musician from Louisiana with a warm and easy-going personality. To hear him play (and attendees of our November show in Baton Rouge did), it would be easy to believe his musical accomplishments have come without challenges. In reality, without the help of three […]

This spring, 17 year-old composer/bassoonist Tim Woos, a Jack Kent Cooke Young Artist, held composition workshops at two different schools in Vermont – the Integrated Arts Academy in Burlington and the North Branch School in Ripton. For each school, he created  a “composing game”: a program that engaged the students as composers using visual aids and noisemakers. […]

As a Jack Kent Cooke Young Artist, 17 year-old vocalist Kara Sainz, along with three peers from the Murrieta Valley High School choir, organized an interactive program demonstrating classical music for a group of nearly 75 elementary school children at the Ysabel Barnett Elementary School in Temecula, CA. The program was titled the “Joy of Opera” […]

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 […]

17 year-old violinist and Jack Kent Cooke Young Artist Yurie Mitsuhashi (Show #205) explored the relationship between music and dance with second through sixth grade students at two elementary schools in her hometown of Fort Lee, NJ this spring. She shared a wide range of music, portraying dances from many different cultures and time periods, […]

After appearing on From the Top, 16 year-old slack-key guitarist and Jack Kent Cooke Young Artist Sean Robbins of Pahoa, HI organized a series of interactive performances at the Hilo Union Elementary School. He gave three 45-minute performances for fourth graders at the school, with about twenty students per group. Sean hoped to inspire these children to […]

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” […]

From the Top’s radio broadcast this week, taped at the El Paso Summer Music Festival this past June, celebrates our partnership with the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation and more than $1 million in scholarships awarded. The radio episode features five new Jack Kent Cooke Young Artist Award recipients and offers updates from past Young Artists […]