On the first of July, From The Top will feature a musician who lives with Tourette's Syndrome. People with
Tourette's Syndrome often experience unprompted repetitive movements or uncontrolled sounds, known as tics. However, a study published in The Journal of Neurological Sciences by Sabine Bodeck, Claudia Lappe, and Stefan Evers in May 2015 states that "listening to and playing music and musical imagery was found to reduce tics... [and that music might] offer a therapeutic approach for patients to reduce tics." Here's to music making the world a better place, one person at a time.
7/1 From McLean, Virginia, we feature a wild performance by 14-year-old violist who tackles a piece written by Hindemith with the extraordinary tempo marking of 600-640 beats per minute, a tender performance of the song “Pure Imagination” from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory is performed on the marimba, and we’ll hear how studying music helped one young musician grow up and cope with Tourette’s Syndrome.
7/8 For the second time in the show’s history, this week’s From the Top from Carnegie Hall’s Weill Music Room will feature a teenage counter-tenor as well as his guitar-playing collaborator for two beautiful art songs. Also on the program, a piece by a teenage composer is given its radio premiere by a quintet of From the Top alums, and a 16-year-old pianist who could give Yuja Wang a run for her money performs a fiery piece by Alberto Ginastera.
7/15 From Miami, Florida we hear a talented local teenager perform the music of Schumann and enjoy his stories of growing up in the Cuban community of Miami. Also featured on the show is an 11-year-old pianist who performs two works by Chopin, and a violinist performs the beautiful and dramatic second movement from César Franck’s Sonata for Violin and Piano.
7/22 From Danville, Kentucky, we’ll feature a 10-year-old violinist who performs the music of Edward Elgar and shares some colorful stories of growing up in Kentucky with her six siblings. Also on the program, a beautifully detailed classical guitar performance by a young man from South Carolina, and a talented teenage pianist from Massachusetts performs Chopin.
7/29 From Longview, Texas this week’s program features a 12-year-old pianist from East Texas performing the music of Paderewski, a heartfelt performance of Faure’s “Elegy” performed by a teenager from the Chicago area, and a moving story from the young flutist on the program who’s rancher grandfather sold much of his herd of cattle to support her musical studies.