About the Show

What began as an interesting radio experiment just more than six years ago has become one of the five most popular weekly one-hour radio programs on all of public radio. From the Top, the hit radio showcase for America's best young classical musicians, is hosted by acclaimed pianist Christopher O'Riley.

Recorded in live concert settings in concert halls around the United States, From the Top captures the top-notch musicianship, offbeat humor and insights of America's best classical musicians ages nine to 18. High-profile performers such as Yo-Yo Ma, Dawn Upshaw, Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg and Bobby McFerrin have appeared on the show to talk about their musical influences and the development of their careers, and to perform with the young artists. Each one-hour program presents five young performers or ensembles whose stunning individual performances are combined with lively interviews, unique pre-produced segments, radio theatre skits and lighthearted musical games.

Airs: 10 a.m. Saturday on KPAC and KTXI
Website: www.fromthetop.org

About the Host

From his groundbreaking transcriptions of Radiohead to his unforgettable interpretations of classic and new repertoire, pianist Christopher O'Riley has redefined the possibilities of classical music.

As host of From the Top, O'Riley works and performs with the next generation of brilliant young musicians, demonstrating to audiences, with humor and a lack of pretension, that these young artists are no different than any other child. In 2007, his successful run as host of From the Top was marked by the debut of the PBS television series From the Top: Live from Carnegie Hall.

An interpreter and arranger of some of the most important contemporary rock music of our time, O'Riley lives by the Duke Ellington adage, "there are only two kinds of music, good music and bad." His first recording of Radiohead transcriptions, True Love Waits (Sony/Odyssey) was as critically acclaimed as it was commercially successful. His second set entitled Hold Me to This: Christopher O'Riley Plays Radiohead, was released on World Village/Harmonia Mundi in the Spring of 2005. In 2006, he released his third set of transcriptions Home to Oblivion; An Elliott Smith Tribute. His most recent CD, Second Grace: Music of Nick Drake, interprets the work of singer/songwriter Nick Drake.

O'Riley studied with Russell Sherman at the New England Conservatory of Music, and splits his time between Los Angeles and Ohio.