Popular NPR Show From the Top to tape live show from Englert Theatre - February 24

Cedar Rapids, IA - From the Top, the preeminent showcase for young musicians heard weekly on Iowa Public Radio, comes to the Englert Theatre on Wednesday, February 24 at 7:30 p.m. to tape a radio broadcast in its 10th anniversary season. Presented by Orchestra Iowa, the NPR taping hosted by acclaimed pianist Christopher O’Riley will feature the amazing performances and captivating personal stories of extraordinary young classical musicians from Iowa and beyond. Tickets are available at orchestraiowa.org or by calling 319.366.8203 or 800.369.TUNE (8863). Tickets may also be purchased through the Orchestra Iowa Ticket Office, 119 3rd Avenue SE, Cedar Rapids, Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Young performers to be featured on the broadcast taping include 14-year-old pianist Thomas Burrill from Coralville, Iowa, a freshman at West High School and a piano student of Feilin Lin. 17-year-old composer Jeremiah Siochi from Iowa City, a music student at the Preucil School will have his original composition, Thoughts of a Wistful Heart for Harp and Violoncello, performed by his sister Katherine, a 16-year-old harpist and Andrew Altmaier, a 16-year-old cellist from Riverside, Iowa. The broadcast taping will also feature the Bone Rangers, a trombone quartet from Chicago comprised of Jake Mezera, 14, from Tinley Park, Illinois, Joe Krantz, 18 from Hoffman Estates, Illinois, Douglas Meng, 16, and Tanner Jackson, 14 both also from Tinley Park. The remaining two musical acts will be named at a later date.

This episode will air nationally the week of May 31 and will air on Iowa Public Radio on Saturday, June 5 at 4 p.m.

The broadcast taping is part of a multi-year residency called Iowa Makes Music to bring the excitement of classical music to Iowa kids and families through broadcasts, educational programs and leadership opportunities for Iowa youth. From the Top will tape a second program in Ames on May 18, 2010. Learn more at IowaMakesMusic.org.

What began as a radio experiment in 2000 quickly became one of the fastest growing and most popular weekly classical music programs on public radio. Broadcast on nearly 250 stations nationwide to an audience of more than 700,000 listeners each week, From the Top has been described by the Boston Globe as, “an entertaining, accessible and inspirational mix of outstanding musical performances, informal interviews, skits and games, the show is a celebration of extraordinary musicians who happen to be teenagers leading fairly normal lives.”

Annually, From the Top’s live tapings reach more than 20,000 live audience members of all ages. In conjunction with its national tour, the non-profit conducts classroom and community outreach programs leveraging the power of its performers as role models for younger students. In addition, From the Top and the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation award $10,000 scholarships to high achieving musicians with limited financial means. The program has invested more than $1 million in support for pre-college students since 2005. From the Top launched its Emmy Award winning PBS television series From the Top at Carnegie Hall in 2007. In 2009, Telarc Records released From the Top at the Pops, featuring a bright and diverse group of young musicians from around the country performing with the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra.

From the Top’s radio program is made possible through grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation and support from Liberty Mutual. It is also supported through the generous contributions of individuals and foundations as well as public radio stations. From the Top’s radio program is produced in association with WGBH Radio Boston and New England Conservatory of Music, its home and education partner.

Learn more at www.fromthetop.org.