NPR's FROM THE TOP with Host Christopher O'Riley Comes to Mesa Arts Center, 2/19

From the Top, the preeminent showcase for young musicians heard weekly on KBAQ 89.5, Your Classical Companion, comes to Mesa Arts Center to tape a radio broadcast on February 19 at 7:30 PM. The popular NPR program hosted by acclaimed pianist Christopher O'Riley will feature the amazing performances and captivating personal stories of extraordinary young classical musicians from across the country. This episode will be presented by Mesa Arts Center.

The program will feature two local musicians, including 17-year-old cellist Peter Eom from Gilbert, Arizona. A student at Highland High School, Peter studies with Thomas Landschoot and plays in the Phoenix Youth Symphony. Also performing will be 16-year-old clarinetist Austen Yueh from Phoenix, Arizona. A student of Alexander Laing, she currently performs with the Phoenix Youth Symphony and performed in the National High School Honors Orchestra in 2012.

The program will also feature: 15-year-old violinist Adé Williams (Jack Kent Cooke Young Artist) from Chicago, Illinois; and 17-year-old composer Trey Pernell from Denver, Colorado. The Phoenix Children's Chorus, Artistic Director Ron Carpenter, will perform Trey's composition "O Captain! My Captain!" based on the poem by Walt Whitman.

Tickets are $20 and are available online at www.mesaartscenter.org or by phone at 480.644.6500. From the Top may be heard locally on KBAQ 89.5, Your Classical Companion, on Sundays at 7:00 PM; this episode will air nationally the week of April 8, 2013.

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 each week, 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."

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. Learn more at www.fromthetop.org.