FOR MORE INFORMATION

CONTACT:  Mary Anthony

mary.anthony@trinity.edu

Aug. 21, 2008

From the Top Live Taping Scheduled at Trinity University

SAN ANTONIO – The extraordinary talents of some of Texas' best young classical musicians will be showcased as From the Top conducts a live taping at 7 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 13, at Trinity University’s Laurie Auditorium. Tickets are now on sale at the Laurie Auditorium Box Office or at www.ticketmaster.com. Ticket prices are $27 for adults, $22 for Texas Public Radio members, $17 for students, and $12 for children 12 and under.

What began as a radio experiment more than six years ago has become one of the five most popular weekly one-hour radio programs on all of public radio. Hosted by acclaimed pianist Christopher O’Riley, each one-hour program presents five young performers or ensembles whose stunning individual performances are combined with lively interviews, unique pre-produced segments, radio theater skits, and lighthearted musical games.  From the Top airs locally at 10 a.m. Saturday on KPAC 88.3 FM and KTXI 89.1 FM.

Mr. O’Riley works and performs with the next generation of brilliant young musicians, ages 9 to 18, demonstrating to audiences, with humor and a lack of pretension, that these young artists are no different than any other child. 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. 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.

As an interpreter and arranger of contemporary rock music, Mr. 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 most recent CD, Second Grace: Music of Nick Drake, interprets the work of singer/songwriter Nick Drake. Mr. O’Riley studied with Russell Sherman at the New England Conservatory of Music, and he splits his time between Los Angeles and Ohio.

The live taping of From the Top is sponsored by Trinity’s Department of Music and Texas Public Radio. For more information, contact Trinity’s Office of University Communications at 210-999-8406.

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