Grammy Award-winning bass player Victor Wooten joins us this week as we celebrate great music out of Nashville! We hear an electric performance on violin, imitating sounds from Jimi Hendrix’s guitar, by a teen musician who already holds a real job in an orchestra. We meet a talented pianist who performs Beethoven. And a teen bluegrass mandolin player with a career on the rise performs solo and collaborates on a toe-tapping tune with Victor Wooten and Peter Dugan.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

We hear the From the Top premiere of Ellen Taaffe Zwilich’s Fantasy for Solo Violin, who is the first woman to win a Pulitzer Prize in music. It’s performed by a teen violinist passionate about championing classical music. We meet a flutist determined to make a difference in the world. And our flashback finale features the 2016 performance by Claire Wells, who just recently was named a Young Concert Artist Jacobs Fellows.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

We’re speaking with young musicians about vulnerability and risk-taking, overcoming nerves, and how they draw inspiration from other passions like ballroom dancing. Plus, we are treated to incredible performances of a Turina piano trio, a Barber cello sonata, and a Chopin nocturne.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

We’re coming from Minnesota Public Radio in the Twin Cities with guest host Orli Shaham. We hear from a pianist/composer who performs a musical letter to his younger self, and an autodidactic teen violinist wows us with his journey.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Orli Shaham joins us from Minnesota Public Radio in the Twin Cities, a place bursting with talented young artists, including a teen from a long line of Florentine musicians performing Ravel, a quartet who bonded in a forest, and a multifaceted cellist whose interests range from tennis to quantum computing.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

We’re celebrating the release of our brand-new album From the Top 25. You’ll hear performances from young artists on the album and learn interesting facts and trivia about the repertoire they perform!From the Top 25 is available on most major streaming platforms including Apple Music and Spotify!Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

We meet a teen cellist from a large musical family who performs a theatrical piece by Cassadó. An 18-year-old saxophone player with a commitment to community engagement delivers a moving Elegy by Fauré.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

A dedicated teen violinist and poet performs Amy Beach’s passionate Romance. A clarinetist describes a moment discovering complete silence out in nature and how he draws on that feeling in his performance of Debussy.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

A wonderful teen violinist who has lived all over the world performs Debussy. A 17-year-old saxophone player from Texas shares how he found his first instrument in a pawn shop and hasn’t put the sax down since. He performs an exquisite Rhapsody by André Waignein.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Today’s episode is dominated by instruments you’d find in a high school band room and many of our featured teen artists discovered their love for performing through school music programs. We meet a tuba player and a trombonist who followed their passion to Interlochen Arts Academy and a percussionist who is at home in front of the marimba.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy