Celebrating Kids in Music: Partners with MTNA.

"What started as an experiment in 1997 has exploded into one of the five most popular public radio programs heard in over 250 markets across the country. With this meteoric climb and our nationally recognized education programs, we knew we bad landed on a sure fire way to connect kids with classical music."

--Jennifer Hurley-Wales CEO and executive producer of From the Top

Best known for its nationally syndicated radio program, From the Top provides a platform for young artists to present themselves, share their passion and develop into important cultural leaders. From the Top will record before a live audience at the 2006 MTNA National Conference in Austin, Texas, on March 28. As a preview to the live show in March, From the Top was asked to provide a little history about the organization, its partnership with MTNA, and the ways MTNA teachers have been and continue to be an integral part of From the Top's mission to encourage and celebrate the commitment of young people to music and the arts.

The Beginning: "What If We ..."

In 1996, shortly after the New England Conservatory of Music (NEC) had undergone an extensive renovation of its concert hall, Jordan Hall, the board of trustees and staff were charged with bringing more people to more events in this remarkable concert venue.

Soon after, standing on a street corner, Gerald Slavet, a trustee at NEC, and Jennifer Hurley-Wales, then acting director of external affairs, had one of those magical moments only seen in the movies. Hurley-Wales said, "We should do an old-fashioned radio show in Jordan Hall." Slaver responded, "Great idea, but it should focus on kids!" Today, the two are co-CEOs and executive producers of From the Top.

With substantial funding from the U.S. Department of Education and a successful pilot season, with host Christopher O'Riley, From the Top was launched nationally in January 2000, as a weekly public radio series on 100 radio stations. Since then, the program has showcased more than 1,000 young performers and has become the nation's most popular weekly classical music program, broadcast on 250 stations nationwide.

MTNA Executive Director Gary Ingle says, "Both MTNA and I have had a long relationship with From the Top. The show has done so much for the profession and I believe in the show and the impact that it's having on these young people's lives."

Today, From the Top is thriving. The National Public Radio program is heard by 750,000 listeners each week, has a website that receives a half-million monthly page views, is developing a television series with WGBH and Carnegie Hall and has education initiatives that reach millions of school kids across America.

Getting from Here to There: Great Kids

In the beginning, many skeptics thought the show would never work. Why would people want to listen to a 12-year-old when they could hear Yono Ma, Leon Fleisher or the Juilliard String Quartet perform the same repertoire? The answer is simple: From the Top celebrates great kids, not only through their performances, but also through interviews bringing out their personal stories and interesting quirks.

MTNA has had a continuing influence on this success. From the Top's music producer Tom Vignieri says, "Private teachers are one of the best resources we have for identifying talented kids in this country. Whether part of a larger academic environment or maintaining private studios in their homes, private teachers invariably lead us to some of our best kids."

Slavet adds, "We both have the same mission. MTNA teachers are our lifeblood. Without the wonderful teachers out there teaching and sharing their passion for music, the young musicians that make From the Top so special wouldn't exist."

Up Close and Personal: MTNA Hosts a Live Taping

In March 2006, From the Top reaches out to MTNA by bringing great young performers to Austin for a live taping at the MTNA National Conference.

"The show in Austin is going to provide an exciting, fun, and wonderful evening for all. It's our final Tuesday night concert--our big show, and attendees are going to love hearing and seeing the high-quality students who are the hallmark of every From the Top performance. Everyone will go away inspired with a renewed commitment to making a difference in their own students lives," expressed Ingle.

Attending a live From the Top taping is a great experience. Kelsey Tamayo (MTNA Winner 2003-2004 and 2004-2005) appeared on From the Top January 29, 2004, before a full house at the Schwartz Center at Emory University. Tamayo dazzled the audience when she performed Khachaturian's "Sabre Dance" on the xylophone followed by Liszt's "Hungarian Rhapsody" on the marimba. The live audience received a special treat missed by the radio audience--standing at barely 5-feet tall, Tamayo performed while standing on boxes to be able to reach all the notes. Her energy and musical passion was definitely a sight to see.

The first time From the Top and MTNA joined forces to present a show was March 27, 2001, for a live taping at the Kennedy Center with special guest Midori. MTNA also partnered with several organizations to bring the show to Cincinnati's Music Hall in 2004. Slavet remarked, "The shows we've done with MTNA, MENC and the American Symphony Orchestra League were some of our all time best, not because the kids were the best, but because the audience was. We're thrilled to be doing a show in Austin for the MTNA National Conference. What could be better than presenting these kids to the teachers who have nurtured them? It's kind of like seeing your own child at their first recital or winning the Van Cliburn."

From the Top will be recording at the conference Tuesday, March 28, 2006, at 8:00 P.M. Admission is free, but reservations must be made in advance using the registration form on page 9 of the Conference Insert in AMT or online at www.mma.org.

Building on a Theme: Sharing From the Top Young Performers With Other Students

"Let's make music a part of kids' everyday lives. They might discover the chocolatey-melodies filled with strength and grace that make you want to sing, cry and dance; or the exhilarating, fierce passages that make you want to scream your lungs out, laugh or punch a hole in the wall."

--From the Top Roving Reporter, Caeli Smith, age 12.

With the kids on From the Top's radio show leading the charge, the organization has been able to expand significantly into education arenas. From the start, From the Top began building related educational programs with nationally esteemed partners, including MTNA, NEC, Cherry Lane Publishers, National Guild of Community Schools and MENC.

Now called AMPLIFY, From the Top's education programs harness the power of peer role-modeling to engage all children in exploring creativity, discovering self-expression and developing a better understanding of others and the world around them.

To illustrate the ways From the Top expands the impact of its young performers on other students, here are some examples of From the Top alums who are also past MTNA Competition winners:

More than 50 From the Top performers are featured in new music textbooks published by Macmillan and Glencoe/McGraw-Hill for grades 2-12. These books will reach more than 30 million students nationwide over the next five years. CD accompaniments of the books introduce students to From the Top young musicians using performances and interviews taken directly from the radio show. MTNA past competition winners Sebastian Chang (2001-2002), Amanda Stewart (1998-1999), Deanna Talens (1997-1998) and Neil Vassan (1999-2000) are all showcased in the elementary-level textbook series Spotlight on Music.

From the Top is also connecting with kids in schools through Make Your Own Radio Show Residencies, in partnership with Young Audiences, Inc., and designed with NEC.

After seeing one From the Top in-school program, Ashley, a 7th-grade student from Newark, New Jersey, responded, "I learned you can do anything you put your mind to ... even if you're young.

Capitalizing on the power of peer role modeling, From the Top's Cultural Leadership program now provides training to all of the radio show's young musicians to help them return to their communities with ideas and tools enabling them to share their words, music, talent and vision through in-school programs, and community arts and advocacy events. They demonstrate that with discipline, passion and focus success is possible in whatever they do.

Composer/pianist Julia Carey (MTNA winner 1999-2000) performed on From the Top with one of her closest friends, violinist Sarah Chamess. Shortly following the taping, Carey attended Cultural Leadership training and promptly expressed an interest in working with younger students. Carey put together a presentation for Boston's Conservatory Lab Charter School. She made a slide show featuring one of her very first compositions, written with her personal notation system of dots, dashes and scribbles she had developed before formally learning how to read and write music. Students were enthralled. Carey was invited back the next year as a "Music Buddy" and she wrote a piece for the school's final spring concert. She has been a great musical role model for the entire school. Who would have thought all of that would come about from appearing on a radio show?

From the Top offers another resource to share some of the best performances from the show: recordings. The latest is the third CD of musical highlights from past seasons. This CD, along with From the Top Volumes One and Two and Christopher O'Riley At the Break are all available online at www.fromthetop.org, Public Radio Music Source, www.prms.org and Amazon.com.

Volume Three offers Debussy's Arabesque No. 1 played by an 8-year-old pianist from San Diego; a remarkable performance of Bottesini's Tarantella by a 17-year-old double-bass player from Iowa; a traditional slack key guitar piece by a 14-year-old Hawaiian; and Schumann's Piano Quintet in E-flat Major with student musicians, pianist O'Riley and special guest, violinist Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg. The disc opens with the Ottava Trio from Georgia: Elenita, Joel and Alexander Link (Alexander, 2000-2001 winner; Joel, 2001-2002 winner) in a rousing performance of Serenade, Op. 12, III. Vivo by Kodaly.

Speaking of "Links": www.fromthetop.org

From the Top's website is a one-stop shop resource for teachers (there's a link to the website from the "Partnership" page of www.mma.org) to inspire students with music performed by their peers. All the From the Top radio shows are archived on the web, available any time. The Music Library allows users to search by composer through the archived audio files, and one can also search by instrument, age, state and keywords. Recent performances include listening guides to the music performed on the show, sharing insight to the music directly from the performers themselves. Here's what From the Top alumnus and cellist Deanna Talens (MTNA winner 1997-1998) wrote about the piece Requiebros by Cassado, "This piece had me envisioning Spanish dancers dancing to flamenco or a bullfighter waiting for the bull to aim. It is always important for me when I learn a new piece to get a good feel for what the composer wanted to tell us or what kind of stories he would have told us while writing this piece. So with this particular piece I basically envisioned this Spanish culture. It also helped that my teacher at the time would dance around the room when I was playing, and he would pretend that he was a Toreador."

Recently, an MTNA teacher called the From the Top office with a great story about how she used www.fromthetop.org in her teaching. Her private studio has only a few teenage boys amongst a slew of girls. Looking for role models, she had her male students search the website for young boys who are excelling at and loving playing the piano. Boys like Christopher Falzone, (MTNA winner 1997-1998 and 2000-2001) who was on From the Top as a soloist playing Bloch 3 Nocturnes, and in ensembles performing in the Ravel Piano Trio, Schoenfield Cafe Music and a Brahms Piano Quartet.

Once students are on the website, they can talk to each other, www.fromthetop.org is the leading online destination to interact with others about youth and music. "Teacher Talk" allows teachers to compare notes with each other, and "Info and Advice" posts questions young musicians are asking each other every day. Here's an excerpt from one of the community discussion boards where students ask each other advice about finding motivation to practice:

Violincadenza:

I have been struggling lately with enjoying my practicing. I LOVE playing, and I want to be a professional violinist, but there's a difference between playing music and enjoying it, and practicing scales/etudes and music slowly and carefully. I try to practice four hours a day and after an hour or two, I get tired of it and don't really "feel" like practicing anymore. I sure would appreciate any advice on how to love every minute you practice.

Jessica:

Try breaking up your practice time with a fun piece, but don't forget to return to the scales and etudes.

Violincadenza:

Thanks. I do break my practice time into hour blocks, but I think one of the main problems is boredom. One thing I figured out today was that a big part of the problem is probably that although I'm playing, I'm not occupying my mind.

peterd:

If you are bored of practicing, then don't do it. It's good to have a goal set in your mind but sometimes it's just better to see where the music takes you. I'm trying to say that you shouldn't set a time frame on your practice, JUST PRACTICE. Maybe you won't practice for four hours (maybe you will) but you will enjoy it much more.

Violincadenza:

So I've been writing things down to think about and work on while I'm practicing certain things, which is not only a much more efficient way to practice but it also gives me something to think about other than "I wonder what I could have for lunch ..." ha ha ...

Adamissioner:

I totally agree with peterd, if you force yourself to play a lot when you don't feel like it, you're putting in jeopardy your musicality and motivation level. Even though I'm serious about music, there will sometimes be ... gasp! ... three or four days in a row that I don't play. But then the next time I pick up the violin, it feels new and fresh and I enjoy playing so much!

Help Us Help You

"As one of From the Top's artistic advisors, I want to help spread the word that kids should be celebrated for their commitment to music," charges Ingle.

From the Top and MTNA's partnership depends on the people that make it truly possible to celebrate kids in music: teachers like YOU. Continue to inspire students to achieve great things. Encourage your best students to apply to be on the show. From the Top accepts applications on a rolling admissions basis for soloists, chamber ensembles and composers. Composers accepted to the Young Composer Project appear on the radio program and receive special mentoring sessions with professional composers like Peter Schickele, Libby Larsen, Joan Tower and John Harbison.

Thanks to the generosity of the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation, From the Top's Jack Kent Cooke Young Artist Award program gives $10,000 scholarships in support for education and artistic development to 25 financially needy young people who will appear on From the Top this season.

All the information about applying to From the Top, AMPLIFY education programs and the Young Artist Awards can be found on the website, www.fromthetop.org. While you're on the website, listen to some performances, check out the additional resources, and let From the Top know how you use them in your teaching. With your feedback, From the Top can continue to grow and serve as a resource for you and your students.

And who knows? Some day soon your students could even be seen on TV. WGBH in Boston and Carnegie Hall have partnered with From the Top to produce a national 13-part special television series for PBS. The series is slated to go into production fall 2006, with an airing in early 2007.

From the Top is proud to be a partner with MTNA and together we will continue to connect young performers with audiences of all kinds. One cannot predict what exactly inspires a student to climb to the next level or to reach for the stars. The next Lang Lang could be nearby, waiting for inspiration to strike.

Ann Gregg, From the Top's director of education, has taught privately and in public schools in Los Angeles, Chicago, Indianapolis, Madison, Wisconsin, and with the Philadelphia Symphony Orchestra and Ravinia Festival. Gregg holds degrees in music education from the University of Wisconsin and viola performance from Indiana University.