From the Top

In this week's FTT Mini, 14-year-old pianist Evan Ritter narrates a moving story about his life and the role of piano in it, and then delivers ferocious performance of Sergei Prokofiev's Suggestion Diabolique.

9 teenagers from Chicago's legendary Percussion Scholarship Group brought the house down when they performed the high energy piece, "Marimba Spiritual" on From the Top back in 2009. Check out this treasure from our archive.

A teenage violist with a talent for astronomy performs the music of Brahms ... a fiery violinist performs music from "The Red Violin" and shares his perspectives growing up with Aspeger's syndrome and a teenage pianist who's already touring the world as a pro performs Chopin.

Composer Joshua Deutsch wrote his evocative composition, Shades of Rain for woodwinds and cello as a teenager and we featured it way back in 2000. Featuring several short movements, it explores the differing moods of rain in Seattle, Washington.

Teenage pianists David Allakhverdov,and Weiyin Chen,17, tear up the keyboard in a performance of Variations on a Theme by Paganini by Witold Lutoslawski

Clarinetist Anthony McGill makes a guest appearance performing Brahms with a 14-year-old cellist, bonding with a teenage clarinet quintet over their shared instrument, and recalling stories from his childhood.

17-year-old Erhu player narrates a colorful multilayered audio introduction to this traditional Chinese instrument and then performs a medley to two contrasting Erhu pieces.

A 16-year-old violist plays one of Brahms' most beautiful sonatas, a young percussionist shares an experience that inspired him to connect with his Mexican-American heritage, and a teen violinist recalls his "bucket list" performance at the White House for First Lady Michelle Obama.

Corey Dundee, who is now a member of the award winning Kenari Quartet, appeared on From the Top as a teenager. Here his teen performance of Russell Peck's "The Upward Stream" with the Cincinnati Pops under the direction of Erich Kunzel

This week we hear a mambo for harp, one of Debussy's earliest works, a Spiritual arranged by composer Margaret Bonds, and a fiddle finale with a 12-year-old national champion. Violinist Tessa Lark joins as co-host.