From the Top

Host Christopher O'Riley interviews conductor, Marin Alsop.

From Purchase, New York, this week's From the Top highlights the 115 incredible young musicians that make up Carnegie Hall's National Youth Orchestra of the USA. Featured on the program are four performances by the full ensemble under renowned conductor Marin Alsop including an adrenaline-inducing performance of John Adams' "Short Ride in a Fast Machine" and a newly-commissioned work by composer Gabriela Lena Frank.

Christopher O'RIley and teenage violinist, John Fawcett talk about nuanced bowing technique.

From the campus of the University of California, Berkeley, this week's From the Top features the winning ensemble of KDFC's Local Vocals High School Choir Sing-Off and, at 120 singers, it's the largest choir ever featured on the program. We meet a 17-year-old pianist with a moving story to tell about losing access to her beloved piano for financial reasons and how she overcame that situation ... and a young string quartet performs the rhapsodic first movement of Debussy's string quartet in G major, Op. 10.

Guest Host Peter Dugan created a special arrangement in honor of the late Aretha Franklin and his hometown of Philadelphia and performed it during the live recording of NPR's From the Top Show 359.