From the Top

Sunday, 3 to 4 pm
  • Hosted by Christopher O'Riley

Pianist Christopher O'Riley hosts this showcase for talented young performers, in which they demonstrate their prodigious ability and reveal details of their non-musical lives, from sibling secrets to favorite foods.

August 5, 3 to 4 PM:

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.

Performers and repertoire:

19-year-old clarinetist Andrew Mazanko performs Rondo from Concerto No. 1, Op. 73 for Clarinet and Orchestra by Carl Maria von Weber (1786-1826), with the York Symphony Orchestra

Violinist and From the Top alum Ben Detrick performs Romanian Folk Dances by Béla Bartók (1881-1945), with Christopher O’Riley, piano

17-year-old cellist Zoe Lin performs Adagio and Allegro, Op. 70 for Cello and Piano by Robert Schumann (1810-1856), with Christopher O’Riley, piano

16-year-old pianist Baron Cao performs Hungarian Rhapsody No.11 in A minor, S.244 by Franz Liszt (1811-1886)

16-year-old violinist Daniel Rafimayeri performs II. Adagio from Concerto No. 1 in G minor, Op. 26 for Violin and Orchestra, by Max Bruch (1838-1920), with the York Symphony Orchestra

The York Symphony Orchestra, under the directions of Lawrence Golan, performs Coriolan Overture, Op.62, by Ludwig Van Beethoven (1770-1827)

Listen to podcasts of most recent episodes

This Land Is Our Land: Young Immigrant Musicians Reinvent A Classic

By • Jul 7, 2017

What role does music play in our national dialogue about immigration? Six young musicians, rooted in six different countries, gathered at Ellis Island, and in Manhattan, to explore that question in a new composition inspired by Woody Guthrie's "This Land Is Your Land."

Matt Haimovitz & Christopher O'Riley: Tiny Desk Concert

By • Mar 14, 2015

Whether it's warranted or not, classical music wonks are perennially worried about the next generation of fans.

It seems there's less need to fret when you hear cellist Matt Haimovitz and pianist Christopher O'Riley. Some 15 years ago, they were already chipping away at the barriers — both real and perceived — between classical and pop.

From Philadelphia to The Top!

By Meridee Duddleston • Nov 10, 2014

The nationally syndicated public radio program From the Top features gifted young classical musicians from all over the country. They’re always super talented - and often very amusing as they chat with host Christopher O'Riley - which all adds up to great radio. More than 250 public radio stations broadcast the show.

Carnegie Hall's Barnstorming Youth Movement

By editor • Jul 17, 2013

This is the kind of opportunity most classical musicians can only dream about: to be invited to spend part of the summer with an orchestra touring the world — Washington, Moscow, St. Petersburg and London — with two of the biggest names in classical music, conductor Valery Gergiev and violinist Joshua Bell.

Bach, Beatboxed

By editor • Dec 3, 2012

Highlights Show on From the Top: Sunday, July 15 at 2 pm

By WRTI Staff • Jul 10, 2012

Gunther Schuller, the great American composer, conductor, author, music educator, jazz innovator, and French horn player, is the special guest artist on From the Top this week.