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

New York, NY and Remote

Sunday, March 7, 2021 - 6:00pm

Hosted by pianist Peter Dugan, this program features performs recording in studios near their homes and in person work recorded at the Yamaha Artist Services space in New York City. A talented teenage trumpet player from Hoover, Alabama performs a movement from the Haydn Trumpet concerto and a young cellist from New Jersey performs Rachmaninoff’s beautiful Elegy Opus 3, No. 1.

17-year-old clarinetist, Kah’lin Jordan from Hoover, Alabama performs Cantilene for Clarinet and Piano by Louis Cahuzac (1880-1960)
18-year-old pianist, Victor Shlyahtenko from Los Angeles, California performs TBD
17-year-old cellist, Christy Choi from Tenafly, New Jersey performs Elegy, Opus 3 No. 1 by Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873-1943) with pianist Peter Dugan
Host pianist Peter Dugan performs TBD
16-year-old violinist Hannah Park from Tenafly, New Jersey performs Polonaise Brillante in A Major, Opus 21 by Henryk Wieniawski (1835 – 1880)

Boston, MA

Sunday, March 14, 2021 - 6:00pm

This week’s episode from Boston features the duo Michael Thurber and Tessa Lark as guest hosts alongside outstanding musicians from across the country. We meet a teenage trumpet player who had to overcome major hardship in his home country of Macedonia to pursue music, an 11-year-old pianist who performs a piece by Chopin, and an award-winning string quartet who teams up with the guest hosts for a high-energy finale.

Kalico Quartet (Lena-Marie DeMayo Stoger, violin, 17; Cheng Io Lo, violin, 18; Kevin Wallace, viola, 17; Andrew Wallace, cello, 17) performing I. Allegro ma non tanto from String Quartet In C Minor, Op. 18, No. 4, by Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)
David Smith, cello, 16, performing I. Vivace from Viola da Gamba Sonata No. 3 in G Minor, BWV 1029, by Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) with Michael Thurber, bass and Tessa Lark, violin
Thatcher Harrison, guitar, 18, performing Iris at Sunrise, by Thatcher Harrison
Julia Zhou, piano, 11, performing Nocturne in D Flat Major, Op. 27, No. 2, by Frédéric François Chopin (1810-1849)
Aleksander Vitanov, trumpet, 18, performing III. Allegro con fuoco from Sonata for Trumpet and Piano, by Eric Ewazen (1954-)
Michael Thurber, bass and Tessa Lark, violin with Kalico Quartet performing Cedar and Sage, by Michael Thurber and Tessa Lark

Recent Broadcasts

Boston, MA

Sunday, February 28, 2021 - 6:00pm

Guest Host cellist Paul Katz joins From the Top for this broadcast featuring outstanding musicians from all over the world participating in the 23rd annual Morningside Music Bridge program held at New England Conservatory.

Anthony Choi and Paul Katz, cello, and Susanne Ruberg-Gordon, piano performing I. Andante, II. Allegro from Sonata for Two Cellos in G Minor, Op. 2, No. 8, by George Frederic Handel (1685-1759)
Mohammad Alsheikh, piano performing Ballade No. 2 in F Major, Op. 38 by Frédéric Chopin (1810-1849)
Nahar Eliaz, cello performing I. Preludio-Fantasia from Suite for Solo Cello by Gaspar Cassadó (1897-1966)
Yizilin Liang, viola and Qiuning Jonie Huang, piano performing III. Allegretto grazioso from Sonata for Viola and Piano, Op. 120, No. 1 by Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)
Hannah Pozorska, violin and Akiko Tominaga, piano performing I. The Fountain of Arethusa from "Myths", Op. 30 by Karol Szymanowski (1882-1937)
Anna Stube, violin, Paul Katz, cello, and Henry From, piano performing I. Allegro from Piano Trio in D Major, Op. 70, No. 1 “Ghost" by Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)

New York, NY and Remote

Sunday, February 21, 2021 - 6:00pm

This episode is hosted by Peter Dugan and From the Top’s regularly appearing co-host, award winning violinist Tessa Lark. Tessa collaborates to perform Bach with a brilliant young oboist from Woodbury, New York and she performs 2 Bartok Duos with a young violinist from Queens.

17-year-old trumpet player, Benjamin D’Haiti from Oakton, Virginia performs Trumpet Concerto, Mvt 1 by Joseph Haydn (1732 – 1809), pianist TBD
18-year-old guitarist, Daniela Santiage from Del Valle, TX performs TBD
15-year-old violinist, Bobby Boogyeom Park from Queens, New York performs Bartok 44 Duos for Violins, Mvts. 44 and 28, by Bela Bartok (1881 – 1905) with Co-host violinist, Tessa Lark
Co-hosts Tessa Lark, violin and Peter Dugan, piano perform TBD
16-year-old oboist, Spencer Rubin from Woodbury, New York performs Violin and Oboe Concerto, Mvt 3 by Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) with Co-host violinist, Tessa Lark and Peter Dugan, piano.

Fairfax, VA

Sunday, February 14, 2021 - 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. They join a teenage piano duo for an electric performance of In the Hall of the Mountain King.

Performers and Repertoire:

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)