From the Top

Host Christopher O'Riley and 17-year-old percussionist Gabriel Costache discuss how to make percussion instruments "sing."

From Austin, Texas, this week's From the Top features a nuanced and emotional performance of Rachmaninoff's Prelude in G Sharp Minor, opus 32 by a 14-year-old pianist from California, we'll meet a teenage oboist local to Austin who's also been a world champion knife thrower ... and a young percussionist from Denver performs a mesmerizing piece on the marimba.

Host Christopher O'Riley talks with teenage pianist Amir Siraj about Stravinsky's Petrouchka and Amir's Iranian heritage.

From Boston, Massachusetts, this week's program features a brilliant 12-year-old cellist from Hackensack, New Jersey performing a sonata by Shostakovich, we enjoy a beautifully detailed performance of a Sibelius Mazurka by a young violinist ... and we meet a teenager from Massachusetts, who, in addition to being an outstanding pianist, has also received serious recognition for his work in environmental science.

Christopher O'Riley speaks with three leading teachers of Chicago's teenager chamber music scene.

From the Midwest Young Artists Conservatory in Highwood, Illinois, this week's From the Top features a line-up of all Chicago-area young musicians, including a fantastic teenage piano trio playing Cassado and seven members of the Percussion Scholarship Group of Chicago.

From York, Pennsylvania, this week's From the Top features outstanding young musicians soloing with the York Symphony Orchestra under the direction of conductor Lawrence Golan. We'll enjoy a 17-year-old's performance of one of Schumann's most beautiful works for cello, a teenager that switched his focus from soccer to clarinet thanks to a life-changing concert experience, and a young violinist tackles Bruch's Violin Concerto No. 1 with the York Symphony Orchestra.

Host Christopher O'Riley coaches 14-year-old violinist, Sena Cho in a rehearsal of the first movement of the Grieg Violin Sonata.

From Longview, Texas this week's program features a 12-year-old pianist from East Texas performing the music of Paderewski, a heartfelt performance of Faure's "Elegy" performed by a teenager from the Chicago area and we'll hear a moving from the young flutist on the program who's rancher grandfather sold much of his herd of cattle to support her musical studies.

From Danville, Kentucky, this week's From the Top features a 10-year-old violinist performing the music of Edward Elgar — she also shares some colorful stories of growing up in Kentucky with her 6 siblings. Also on the program, a beautifully detailed classical guitar performance by a young man from South Carolina and Chopin performed by a talented teenager from Massachusetts.