Tom Vignieri (pc: Caitlin Cunningham)

We are remembering our former colleague and friend Tom Vignieri who recently passed. Tom was beloved and made an immeasurable impact on the From the Top community and the countless young musicians whose lives he touched.

Tom served as From the Top’s Music Director for 12 years, mentoring and collaborating with more than 1,200 young musicians during his tenure. He led the music production for more than 250 episodes of our radio show as well as for our Emmy Award-winning PBS series, From the Top at Carnegie Hall.

Tom built lasting relationships with young musicians, parents, music educators, and colleagues. He elevated everyone’s work through his musical expertise and his unwavering commitment to encouraging and supporting young artists.

Before working at From the Top, Tom served as director of the Boston University Tanglewood Institute and as artistic administrator of the Handel and Haydn Society, a professional chorus and period instrument orchestra.

Tom was also a brilliant composer whose work earned deep respect throughout the classical music community. He was commissioned as a composer by Masterworks Chorale of Boston, Melrose Symphony Orchestra, Sarasa Chamber Music Ensemble, the Chamber Music Connection of Columbus, Ohio, Carthage College, From the Top, the Metropolitan Chorale of Brookline, and the Handel and Haydn Society.

Tom Vignieri pictured with Tim Banker, Jennifer Hurley-Wales, and Gerald Slavet celebrating our television Emmy.

Our From the Top family has been in touch sharing memories of our time with Tom.

“Tom was a wonderful man in addition to his talent. So many of us, including hundreds of From the Top parents and musicians, were smitten by Tom and his deeply caring personality,” said co-founder Gerald Slavet.

“Tom was a deeply thoughtful, talented, gentle man and a keen observer of others with supersonic, nuanced listening skills. It was fascinating to hear Tom’s dissection of a piece of music and performance. He had a beautiful way of selecting kids and repertoire, creating endless magical moments for FTT,” said co-founder Jennifer Hurley-Wales.

“Tom was beloved by the American classical music community and built a national network of youth music educators. He was respected by small town music teachers and major orchestra leaders alike. He was a great listener. In seconds, he could analyze a young person’s musical sound and make a non-intrusive suggestion to help them produce their best performance!” said Tim Banker, a former producer at From the Top.  “While devoted to the classical music art form, he was not precious about it and loved multi-genre programming and the whole range of American music. As a collaborator, Tom was warm and deep and improved everyone’s work through his unwavering focus on great music and the encouragement of young people.”

Tom with FTT alumni Sydney and Noah Lee, at a FTT event in Aspen.

In tribute to Tom and his many talents, we are pleased to share his work There Will Come Soft Rains, which he recorded at Boston’s Symphony Hall in 2013 with the help of many From the Top colleagues and alumni. We hope you will take a moment to enjoy this beautiful performance, one that so many of our FTT family members remember with fondness.

This work was commissioned by the Columbus Children’s Choir and by Deborah Price and Chamber Music Connection, an Ohio music program with which Tom developed a close relationship through his work with From the Top.

From the Top Performers featured in There Will Come Soft Rains by Tom Vignieri:

Staff
Michael Dahlberg, cello (FTT alum)
Shea Mavros, soprano
Erin Nolan, viola
Wendy Perrotta, soprano
Claire Shepro, alto (FTT alum)

Alumni
Claire Bourg, violin
Jonah Ellsworth, cello
Brian Hong, violin
Anna Lee, violin
Laura Liu, violin
Taeguk Mun, cello
Clayton Penrose-Whitmore, violin
Haruno Sato, violin
Amelia Sie, violin
Kiyoe Wellington, double bass