From the Top

Guest Host Peter Dugan created a special arrangement in honor of the late Aretha Franklin and his hometown of Philadelphia and performed it during the live recording of NPR's From the Top Show 359.

From picturesque Longwood Gardens outside Philadelphia, From the Top, with this week's Guest Host Peter Dugan, features an exciting array of young talent – including a young violinist who got her start in the El Sistema-inspired music program, Play-On Philly, a violin and guitar duo performs a dramatic tango, and a young cellist who once performed at a Chicago Bulls game. Performers and repertoire 17-year-old cellist Jack Boettcher from Naperville, Illinois performs Pampeana No. 2, Op. 21 for Cello and Piano by Alberto Ginastera (1916-1983), with Peter Dugan, piano 15-year-old pianist Angeline Ma from Berwyn, Pennsylvania performs Waltz in F major, Op. 34 no. 3 and Waltz in A flat major, Op. 42 by Frédéric Chopin (1810-1849) Duo FaRi – 17-year-old violinist Faustina Housner from Cherry Hill, New Jersey and 18-year-old guitarist Ria Modak from New York, New York performs Histoire du Tango: Cafe 1930 by Astor Piazzolla (1921-1992) 18-year-old violinist Akili Farrow from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania performs: Sonatensatz in C Minor by Johannes Brahms (1833-1897), with Peter Dugan, piano 17-year-old clarinetist Andrew Chang from Rowland Heights, California performs: IV. Andante molto - allegro energico from "Time Pieces" for Clarinet and Piano, Op. 43 by Robert Muczynski (1929-2010), with Peter Dugan, piano 15-year-old pianist Angeline Ma from Berwyn, Pennsylvania performs I. Prelude from Eight Concert Études, Op 40 by Nikolai Kapustin (b.1937)

Christopher O'Riley and Conrad talk about Conrad's vibrant career as a composer and pianist and we hear his new piece, "Asymptotes."

From Santa Barbara, California, this week's From the Top features fantastic musicians who are studying at the prestigious Music Academy of the West, which celebrates its 70th Anniversary this year. We'll hear a young pianist perform one of Rachmaninoff's most complex pieces for the piano, a teenage violinist recounts a life-changing realization, and we feature a world-premiere of "Asymptotes", a newly commissioned work for clarinet, viola, and piano from composer and From the Top alum, Conrad Tao.

From the Media Arts Center at Roxbury Community College, this episode of From the Top brings together a cast of fantastic young performers with an all-student audience! We meet a remarkable 13-year-old pianist who shares how much happier she became when she stopped comparing herself to others, a teenage trombone quartet performs two pieces back-to-back that were composed centuries apart, and students from the audience ask the performers questions onstage.

Parsa Sabet Rasekhi talks with host Christopher O'Riley about his journey to America from Iran and then performs his own composition. "Snowflight."

From Las Vegas this week's episode features a teenage piano performing a bombastic piece for two pianos by Lutoslawski, a young guitarist shares his moving story about fleeing Iran to study music in America, and a 13-year-old violinist wows the audience with Paul Nero's whimsical show piece "Hot Canary."

Conductor JoAnn Falletta and host Christopher O'Riley discuss the state of music training and education in the United States.

From Buffalo, New York this week's episode features some of the best young musicians in the country performing concerto repertoire with the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of JoAnn Falletta. A 15-year-old pianist performs a frothy piano concerto movement by Beethoven, a teenage cellist, who's parents are actually players in the orchestra, performs Shostakovich ... and the Buffalo Phil plays a new work by an 18-year-old composer.

From one of the most prestigious teenage music competitions in the country, this episode of From the Top doubles as a documentary featuring the Stulberg International String Competition! In addition to adrenaline-filled performances from three young musicians striving for first prize, we'll hear from the organization's executive director and one of the judges.