NPR’s From the Top Podcast: Great Kids. Great Music. Listen to the Future.

On October 16, four insightful and talented young musicians shared the stage with the Handel and Haydn Society’s Young Women’s Chamber Choir for a delightfully live recording of NPR’s From the Top with host Christopher O’Riley.

From Boston, Massachusetts, this week’s From the Top podcast episode features a 12-year-old cellist performing a show piece by David Popper, hear a moving setting of a Newfoundland folks song performed by the Young Women’s Chamber Choir of Boston’s famous Handel and Haydn Society … and meet a Boston teenager so zealous about studying classical music, he managed to cram four instruments, two Boston orchestras and a chorus into his life.

Performers & Repertoire

Sean Yu, 12, cello

Polonaise de Concert, Op.14 by David Popper with Christopher O’Riley, piano

Helen Wargelin, 18, horn

Nocturno, Op. 7 by Franz Strauss (1822-1905) with Christopher O’Riley, piano

Handel and Haydn Young Women’s Chamber Choir

“Early Spring” – a Traditional Newfoundland Folk Song arranged by Kathleen Allan

Wenfang (Ivan) Han, 16, piano

V. Sonata Tragica from Forgotten Melodies II, Op.39 by Nikolai Medtner

Sammy Andonian, 18, violin

I. Allegro vivo from the Sonata for Violin and Piano by Claude Debussy with Christopher O’Riley, piano

Sammy Andonian, 18, violin

Tambourin Chinois, Op.3 by Fritz Kreisler with Christopher O’Riley, piano

From the Top is made possible in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts, a grant from the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation, support from the Massachusetts Cultural Council, and partnerships with radio stations nationwide.