From the Top

Sundays at 6:00pm on Classical WETA 90.9FM

Hear the next generation of classical champions as talented teens from across the nation play the classics in concert. Often credited for its innovative and fun approach to classical music, From the Top has helped to build a bridge between classical music and youth.

Upcoming Broadcasts

TBD

Sunday, September 20, 2020 - 6:00pm

TBD

Fairfax, VA

Sunday, September 27, 2020 - 6:00pm

From the Center for the Arts at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia, this week’s From the Top features guest hosts Greg Anderson and Elizabeth Roe of the dynamic piano duo Anderson and Roe. We meet a 12-year-old pianist whose performance evokes images of Haydn as a young boy, a bassoonist who uses social media to inspire his musical growth, and an up-and-coming mezzo soprano returns to From the Top.

12-year-old pianist Ella Kim from Herndon, Virginia performing Sonata No. 59 in E-flat Major Hob. XVI/49, III. Finale: Tempo di Minuet by Franz Joseph Haydn (1732-1809)
16-year-old bassoonist Xavion Patterson from Smyrna, Tennessee, recipient of From the Top’s Jack Kent Cooke Young Artist Award, performing Sicilienne et Allegro Giocoso for bassoon and piano by Gabriel Grovlez (1879-1944)
10-year-old violinist Lira Masuda from Glen Allen, Virginia performing Polonaise de concert, Op.4 by Henri Wieniawski (1835-1880)
19-year-old cellist Levi Powe from Tuscon, Arizona performing Poema III by Marlos Nobre (b. 1939)
From the Top alumna Olivia Cosio, soprano, originally from San Francisco, California performing “Una voce poco fa,” from Il barbiere di Siviglia by Gioachino Antonio Rossini (1792-1868)

Los Angeles, CA

Sunday, October 4, 2020 - 6:00pm

Peter Dugan teams up with co-host Vijay Gupta for this episode recorded at The Wallis in Beverly Hills, California, featuring an exciting 10-year-old pianist and a saxophone quartet from Texas.

14-year-old violinist Bianca Ciubancan from Chicago, Illinois performing Hungarian Dance No. 7 in F Major, from 21 Hungarian Dances, WoO 1 by Johannes Brahms (1833-1897), arranged by Joseph Joachim (1831-1907)
10-year-old pianist Olivia Larco from Pasadena, California performing Étude Op.25 no.11, "Winter Wind" by Frédéric Chopin (1810-1849)
17-year-old cellist Mei Hotta, from Torrance, California with Peter Dugan, piano and Vijay Gupta, violin performing Piano Trio, Mvmt III. Capricious by Reena Esmail (b. 1983)
Quantum Saxophone Quartet from Dallas, Texas (Ekdev Rajkitkul, 17, soprano sax; GianCarlo Lay, 16, alto sax; Austin Dreyer, 18, tenor sax; and Peyton Joffre, 18, baritone sax) performing Memory from Nepomuk's Dances by Marcelo Zarvos (b. 1969)
Los Angeles Children’s Chorus from Los Angeles, California performing Domine Deus from Mass in G Major, BWV 236, by Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750), with accompaniment by Twyla Meyer and Over the Rainbow by Harold Arlen (1905-1986), arranged by Mark Hayes

Recent Broadcasts

Fairfax, VA

Sunday, September 13, 2020 - 6:00pm

15-year-old pianist Kiesse Nanor from Ellicott City, Maryland performing "Widmung" by Robert Schumann (1810-1856) arranged by Franz Liszt (1811–1886)
18-year-old violist Natalie Brennecke from Oberlin, Ohio performing Viola Concerto, Op 37, II. Allegro giocoso by Miklós Rózsa (1907-1995)
17-year-old violinist Phillip Hammond, from Bloomington, Indiana performing “Summerland” from Three Visions by William Grant Still (1895-1978)
17-year-old countertenor Sam Higgins from Milton, Massachusetts performing "Dove sei, amato bene?" from Rodelinda, regina de' Longobardi, HWV 19 by George Frideric Handel (1685-1759)
Supernova Piano Duo and the Anderson & Roe Piano Duo performing In the Hall of the Mountain King, from Peer Gynt Suite by Edvard Grieg (1843-1907) arranged by Adolf Ruthardt (1849-1934)

Boston, MA

Sunday, September 6, 2020 - 6:00pm

14-time Grammy Award winning jazz clarinetist and composer Paquito D’Rivera joins host Peter Dugan at New England Conservatory’s Jordan Hall in Boston.

19-year-old bass clarinetist Noah Stone from Westwood, Massachusetts, performing Kenji Bunch’s Cookbook: IV. La ultima noche en la casa del Flamenco and Vals Venezolano by Paquito d’Rivera with d’Rivera and Dugan
14-year-old pianist Benjamin Shaar from Newton, Massachusetts performing Beethoven’s Sonata No. 10 in G Major Op.14, No2, I. Allegro
13-year-old harpist Olivia Lee from Boston, Massachusetts, performing The Minstrel’s Adieu to His Native Land by John Thomas
Guitarist Ria Mondak, From the Top alumna now studying at New England Conservatory/Harvard University, performing Paquito d’Rivera’s La Fleur de Cayenne with d’Rivera
18-year-old soprano Wooldjina Present from Homestead, Florida performing Povero cor, tu palpiti by Isabella Angela Colbran

Boston, MA

Sunday, August 30, 2020 - 6:00pm

A young cellist from Tennesse plays Popper and a sibling violin duo from New Hampshire take on Paganini on this episode of From the Top with host Peter Dugan from the Calderwood Hall at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston.

16-year-old pianist Caroline Hsu from Woodbury, New York performs Piano Sonata No. 21 in C major "Waldstein", Op. 53 by Ludwig van Beethoven
13-year-old violinist Rebecca Beata from Queens, New York performs Gypsy Caprice by Fritz Kreisler
16-year-old guitarist Conor Padmanabhan from Palo Alto, California performs Sonata for Guitar, Op. 61, III. Allegro vivo – Allegro moderato by Joaquín Turina
12-year-old cellist Joshua Kovac from Johnson City, Tennessee, performs Concert Polonaise, Op.14 by David Popper
Chin Family Duo: Daniel and Isabel Chin, ages 14 and 16, from Windham, New Hampshire, performs Il carnevale di Venezia, Op.10 arranged for two violins by Nicolò Paganini