Category: Uncategorized

Sheila P. of Winchester, MA, who attended the Boston October 4 live radio taping, and Rosie S. of Provo, UT, who attended the Salt Lake City October 9 live radio taping, have been selected as the winners of From the Top CD packs. Congratulations! For your chance to win a CD pack of your very […]

For those of you who are fans of Alex Ross’ “The Rest is Noise” blog, we thought we’d point out that he’s moved his daily blog to the New Yorker’s website, check out “Unquiet Thoughts” here. Commuting is now a musical experience in Stockholm, Sweden where they turned a subway stairway into a piano keyboard […]

This week’s show, recorded at the WGBH Fraser Performance Studio in Boston, begins From the Top’s 10th Anniversary celebration. In addition to featuring special alumni guest, William Harvey, the show also includes a 9-year-old flutist, a chamber ensemble from the New England Conservatory’s Youth Philharmonic Orchestra, a counter tenor and a clarinet trio. We asked […]

Classical music blogs are all a-Twitter with news of the Royal Opera House’s plan to create the world’s first Twitter Opera. The concept is that anyone who has a Twitter account can contribute, 140 characters at a time, to the opera’s lyrics. They will then be set to original music and performed next month. Aisle […]

Television host Rachel Maddow was recently at Jacob’s Pillow talking about the importance of the arts in our country. “A country without an expectation of minimal artistic literacy, without a basic structure by which the artists among us can be awakened and given the choice of following their talents and a way to get to […]

The Davidson Institute announced their Fellows yesterday and we spotted From the Top alumni in each division. Congratulations go to: Melody Lindsay, 17, harpist from Honolulu, Hawaii; Sarina Zhang, 13, cellist and pianist from San Diego, CA; and Connie Kim-Sheng, 17 of La Crescenta, CA for receiving scholarships and to Simone Porter,  of Seattle, WA […]

From the Top at Carnegie Hall has been awarded a 2009 Gabriel Award in the Television Arts Category. These awards are presented by the CBA (Catholic Broadcasters Association) to “recognize outstanding artistic achievement in a television or radio program or series which entertains and enriches with a true vision of humanity and true vision of […]

  We’ve just heard that the Oberlin Conservatory of Music and the Cleveland Orchestra will offer a new international competition for young musicians ages 13-18 beginning in summer 2010. Known as the Thomas and Evon Cooper International Competition, the competition takes an interesting approach by alternating each year between piano and violin entries. First up, is […]

Wicked: Composer Stephen Schwartz (of “Wicked,” “Enchanted,” and “Pippin” fame) is writing an opera, and a spooky  one at that. “Seance on a Wet Afternoon” is about a married couple and the spirit of their dead 11-year-old. It sounds reminiscent of Menotti’s “The Medium” (incidentally, From the Top featured a wonderful …

Check out this great article we found in the New York Times about the booming instrument industry in China. Violin, viola, cello, and bass production in the small town of Donggaocun, just outside Beijing, is actually serving as a serious form of economic development for the area. Read the article here.

Send in the clowns: it’s a Concerto for Toy Piano. Keith Kirchoff is the soloist in this whimsical piece of music written by Matthew McConnell, which, as it turns out, was recorded right on From the Top‘s home turf: NEC’s Jordan Hall! Keith is a composer as well as a pianist, and has written several […]

Hoedown from Rodeo from Eleanor Stewart on Vimeo. Ride ’em, cowgirl: Eleanor Stewart created this stop-motion animation, set to Aaron Copland’s “Hoedown” from the Rodeo Suite, for her final year degree at the Glasgow School of Art. As Miss Mussel from The Omniscient Mussel pointed out, that’s one way to make the score come alive! […]

We are pleased to report that we have succeeded in reaching our goal for the $25,000 matching challenge grant from our Boston donors Liz and Phill Gross! We thank everyone who helped us secure this wonderful gift, which makes it possible for us to close our fiscal year without a deficit. Now, on to another […]

We’ll be visiting music camps around the country this summer to find some new, amazing talent for our next season of programming. Stops include: Sphinx Performance Academy at Walnut Hill School Natick, MA – July 7 Boston University Tanglewood Institute Boston, MA – July 17 Interlochen Center for the Arts Summer Arts Camp Interlochen, MI […]

If you subscribe to our e-newsletter, you may have already heard that we recently received news of a $25,000 matching challenge grant from our leadership donors Liz and Phill Gross of Boston, MA. Since we announced this challenge two weeks ago, we have raised 85% of our matching goal. Incredible! We’d thought we’d send a […]

Pianos: they’re not just for inside anymore. Luke Jerram, an English artist, put 30 pianos in public places around London for the summer as part of his artwork called “Play Me, I’m Yours.” The idea is to bring people together in public places, like a train station, when they wouldn’t normally talk to one another. […]

What could be one of the world’s first musical instruments was discovered in Germany recently, according to the Boston Globe. A flute, carved from bone and ivory, is estimated at approximately 35,000 years old. The Globe reports: “The find suggests just how integral artistic expression may be to human existence: Music apparently flourished even in […]

Great five-minute procrastination break: Steve Hicken’s “twitterpieces,” musical compositions so short Hicken can “tweet” them, complete with all performance instructions. The inspiration for “twitterpieces” came from a fellow blogger. And good news – Hicken takes commissions! Here are a few of my favorites: No word yet on whether any of Hicken’s “twitterpieces” have been performed. …