From the Top

Alumni pianist, George Li performs Variations on a Theme from Bizet's Opera "Carmen" by Vladimir Horowitz.

Charles Yang along with pianist Peter Dugan and 16-year-old guitarist Gwenyth Aggeler perform "Loopy" by Charles Yang.

From La Jolla, California, this week's From the Top features renowned violinist and social justice advocate VijayGupta as guest host. Along with co-host Michelle Cann, they'll introduce us to the incredible San Diego Youth Symphony Chamber Orchestra, a young cellist who shares how studying the cello has helped him stand up for what he believes in, and a pianist who was a prize winner in Russia's famous Tchaikovsky Competition.

From The Breman Museum in Atlanta, this week's From the Top is a special program celebrating Jewish contributions to classical music featuring concert pianist Lara Downes as our guest host. We'll hear a 14-year-old share what it's like to grow up in a Korean and Jewish household, a new piece by a Jewish-American teenage composer gets its broadcast debut, and a spectacular 18-year-old clarinetist performs a movement from Leonard Bernstein's Sonata for Clarinet and Piano.

Guest host Leila Josefowicz introduces and performs "Valse Triste" by Jean Sibelius, her break piece recorded during "From the Top Episode 369 with pianist Michelle Cann.

From the famed Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, this episode of From the Top is guest hosted by renowned violinist Leila Josefowicz with co-host Michelle Cann. We meet a teenage violinist who talks about the struggle of coping with very high expectations, a 14-year-old pianist flies over the keys while performing Chopin, and for the first time, both hosts of the program perform together with two young musicians for Messiaen's "Quartet for the End of Time."

From our program recorded March 19th 2019, Interlochen Michigan, co-host and pianist Michelle Cann introduces and performs her break piece on the program, the Sonata in E Minor for Piano by Florence Price.

From the Corson Auditorium at Interlochen Center for the Arts, this week's From the Top features a cast made up entirely by students of the renowned high school. Film and television actor Damon Gupton is our guest host and sets the stage for a young tubist who performs a virtuosic concerto backed by the full orchestra, a group of seven percussionists perform the aptly titled work "Shared Space", and a 17-year-old cellist passionately performs a beautiful work by Tchaikovsky.

Pianist Peter Dugan performs the Sarabande from the French Suite no. 5 in G major J.S. Bach

Recorded in the Hollywood Scoring Studio in Los Angeles, we meet a fantastic 15-year-old pianist who loves Disney so much she can name every ride just by listening to their soundtrack! We also meet a prize-winning string quartet who performs Mendelssohn's second string quartet and a teenage saxophone player from Texas plays a virtuosic work by a 20th-century composer.