NPR's FROM THE TOP Program Taped at Cornish College of the Arts; Airs Nationwide This Weekend

NPR program From the Top's Seattle show, recorded at Cornish College of the Arts' PONCHO Concert Hall, will air on NPR stations across the country this week. Listeners of Seattle's Classical KING FM 98.1 will hear the program tonight, June 21, at 7:00 PM. Other Washington State communities will hear it on Northwest Public Radio on Sunday, June 22, at 12:00 PM. Across the U.S., listeners can find their local NPR station and air times for From the Top at www.fromthetop.org/content/broadcast-schedule.

From the Top is a popular NPR show featuring the amazing performances and captivating personal stories of extraordinary young classical musicians from across the country. Acclaimed pianist Christopher O'Riley, who received an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degree from Cornish College of the Arts in 2012, hosts the program. This week's show highlights two local performers: 17-year-old violinist Felicity James from Seattle, Washington performing the second movement, Nigun, from Baal Shem, Three Pictures of Hasidic Life by Ernest Bloch and 17-year-old cellist Audrey Chen from Redmond, Washington performing Variations on a Theme by Rossini by Niccolò Paganini.

"It was thrilling to host From the Top at Cornish," said Nancy J. Uscher, President of Cornish College of the Arts, who attended the live performance at PONCHO Concert Hall. "The students who performed were brilliant, dedicated and very imaginative, as was Christopher O'Riley, my distinguished colleague. We were honored to bring From the Top to Cornish."

Also featured on this week's broadcast are 16-year-old pianist Agata Sorotokin from San Jose, Calif., performing movements from Musical Toys by Sofia Gubaidulina; several movements from Tropholingua, written by 18-year-old composer Jack Gulielmetti from New York, N.Y., performed by Agata Sorotokin, Felicity James and 18-year-old cellist Joseph Teeter from Topeka, Kan.; and the Precipice Saxophone Quartet performing Fanfare and Variations on Durch Adams Fall from Recitation Book by David Maslanka. The Precipice Saxophone Quartet's members are Justin Udry from Kenosha, Wis.; 17-year-old Lizzy Rangel from Chicago, Ill.; 18-year-old Logan Curry from Maywood, Ill.; and 17-year-old Shane Woods from Matteson, Ill.

About Cornish College of the Arts: A pioneer in arts education, Cornish College of the Arts sprang from the remarkable vision of Nellie Cornish, a woman determined to cultivate the arts in Seattle when it was scarcely more than a frontier town. Her philosophy of educating the artist through exposure to all the arts was progressive in 1914, and continues to be innovative today. The College offers Bachelor of Fine Arts degrees in Art, Dance, Design, Performance Production and Theater, a Bachelor of Music degree and an Artist Diploma in Early Music. The College is accredited by the Northwest Association of Schools and Colleges, and the National Association of Schools of Art and Design. For more information, visit: www.Cornish.edu.

About From the Top: What began as a radio experiment in 2000 quickly became one of the fastest growing and most popular weekly classical music programs on public radio. Broadcast on nearly 250 stations nationwide to an audience of nearly 700,000 listeners, From the Top has been described by the Boston Globe as, "an entertaining, accessible and inspirational mix of outstanding musical performances, informal interviews, skits and games, the show is a celebration of extraordinary musicians who happen to be teenagers leading fairly normal lives." >From the Top may be heard locally on KING-FM on Saturdays at 7:00 PM.

Annually, From the Top's live tapings reach more than 20,000 live audience members of all ages across the United States. In conjunction with its national tour, through From the Top's Center for the Development of Arts Leaders, the Boston-based non-profit offers leadership training to young artists and conducts classroom and community programs leveraging the power of its performers as role models for younger students. In addition, From the Top and the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation award $10,000 scholarships to high- achieving musicians with limited financial means. The program has invested more than $1.6 million in support for pre-college students since 2005. From the Top launched its Emmy Award-winning PBS television series From the Top at Carnegie Hall in 2007.

From the Top is an independent non-profit organization headquartered in Boston that celebrates the power of music in the hands of extraordinary young people: unleashing the potential of young musicians as leaders in the arts; trumpeting the role of music to impact and enrich lives; and inspiring and building new audiences with a deeper appreciation for classical music.

From the Top's radio program is made possible through grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation and corporate underwriting from U.S. Trust, Bank of America Private Wealth Management. It is also supported through the generous contributions of individuals and institutions as well as public radio stations. From the Top's founding partners are New England Conservatory and WGBH. Learn more at www.fromthetop.org.

Pictured: Christopher O'Riley. Photo © Roger Cullman (www.rogercullman.com)

To post a comment, you must register and login.