From the Top Names New Host and Co-hosts

From the Top, NPR’s 20-year-old showcase for rising young talent, is widening its focus, creating what its executive director characterizes as a “brain trust” of five cohosts, each of whom brings a distinctive perspective to music-making in the 21^st century. The group will support both the student musicians who appear on the program as well as pianist Peter Dugan, newly named as permanent host effective next season.

In the past 18 months, the organization has been using guest hosts, especially Dugan, and re-examining its priorities under its executive director of two years, Gretchen Nielsen, the former Los Angeles Philharmonic VP of Education Initiatives and co-founder with Gustavo Dudamel of YOLA. “We been thinking a lot about how classical music has changed and what young artists actually need,” she said in a phone interview.

Beyond the unparalleled exposure the show offers a young artist through performances and interviews, From the Top now aims to add the requisite ingredients to be a professional musician in the 21^st century. Today’s young artists, Nielsen maintains, need coaching in career development, leadership, and community engagement. And they can’t get all that in one hour on the air.

In fact, young artists chosen from the 800 applications FT receives annually go through a five-day residency with the show’s staff and one of more of its new cohosts, who serve as mentors and career catalysts. Students may also participate in local community music projects and get interview coaching for their on-air appearance.

The "Brain Trust"

Each of the new co-hosts has a life beyond the concert stage, which is part of From the Top’s new emphasis. Like Dugan, the primary host, two of the five are FT alumni. Dugan’s first appearance was in 2007, at the age of 18; violinist Tessa Lark, a 2012 Musical America New Artist of the Month, was also on the show as a young artist, around the time she made her debut with the Cincinnati Symphony at age 16. She then went on to win the 2012 Naumburg International Competition and has been on a roll ever since. The daughter of a banjo player from Kentucky, Lark is also a noted fiddler in the tradition of her native Kentucky.

Lark has hosted the show in the past, as has Orli Shaham, who, in addition to being a brilliant pianist, oversees the program Bach Yard (formerly Baby Got Bach), founded in 2010, which is viewed as a significant force in music education and entertainment.

Violinist Vijay Gupta left the Los Angeles Philharmonic in 2018 after 11 years in the first violin section to focus on his role as founding artistic director of Street Symphony, which uses music and human connection to work with homeless and incarcerated communities. Gupta, still active as a performer, is a 2018 John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Fellow. Like his fellow FT hosts, he started young, making his solo debut with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra at age 11 under Zubin Mehta and joining the LA Phil at age 19, in 2007.

Alex Laing has been principal clarinet of the the Phoenix Symphony since 2002. He’s also founder of The Leading Tone, an after-school program offering training in leadership and music. He works with the LA Phil’s YOLA (Youth Orchestra Los Angeles) program, and is a faculty member for the National Youth Orchestra. Laing was one of Musical America’s 2017 Top Professionals.

Charles Yang first appeared on From the Top as a 14 year-old violinist and has been back as a guest on numerous occasions. He is known for his charismatic stage persona (“like a rock star,” according to one media outlet), in addition to being an internationally known soloist with orchestras. Yang is also the newest member of the trio Time for Three.

To date, From the Top has some 3,000 alumni, many of whom have gone on to major careers. Nielsen sees new opportunities within that group, a talent pool that can help bring up the next generation of musicians.  

Pictured: Gretchen Nielsen