From the Top

From the Top is a nationwide American program and initiative to develop and showcase young classical musicians. It is best known for its NPR radio and PBS television programs hosted by pianist Christopher O'Riley, which concern the passion, dedication and personal stories of America's best young classical musicians.

Through entertaining radio and television broadcasts, a national tour of live events, education programs and community outreach, From the Top celebrates pre-collegiate musicians in the same light that has traditionally been reserved for America’s great young athletes.

Radio

From the Top’s landmark radio showcase of America’s top young classical musicians with host Christopher O'Riley is distributed by NPR to nearly 250 public radio stations nationwide. Among the most popular programs on public radio, From the Top reaches more than 700,000 loyal listeners each week. From the Top's radio program weaves together high-caliber artistic performances with interview segments that reveal the personalities of each featured performer. Each radio broadcast highlights five soloists and/or chamber ensembles. Host Christopher O'Riley serves as interviewer, musical coach, and accompanist for the program.

The Top

The Top may refer to

See also

Top (disambiguation)

Whitney Houston

Whitney Elizabeth Houston (August 9, 1963 – February 11, 2012) was an American singer, actress, producer, and model. In 2009, Guinness World Records cited her as the most awarded female act of all time. Houston is one of pop music's best-selling music artists of all-time, with an estimated 170–200 million records sold worldwide. She released seven studio albums and three movie soundtrack albums, all of which have diamond, multi-platinum, platinum or gold certification. Houston's crossover appeal on the popular music charts, as well as her prominence on MTV, starting with her video for "How Will I Know", influenced several African American women artists who follow in her footsteps.

Houston is the only artist to chart seven consecutive No. 1 Billboard Hot 100 hits. She is the second artist behind Elton John and the only woman to have two number-one Billboard 200 Album awards (formerly "Top Pop Albums") on the Billboard magazine year-end charts. Houston's 1985 debut album Whitney Houston became the best-selling debut album by a woman in history.Rolling Stone named it the best album of 1986, and ranked it at number 254 on the magazine's list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. Her second studio album Whitney (1987) became the first album by a woman to debut at number one on the Billboard 200 albums chart.

Time for Three

Time for Three (Tf3) is a classically-trained string trio that explores a variety of musical genres. The members of the group are Nick Kendall and Nikki Chooi (violins) and Ranaan Meyer (double bass). Because of their eclectic musical tastes, ranging from classical to bluegrass to rock to jazz to hip-hop, and their usual casual dress, even while performing at Carnegie Hall, the group refers to itself as a "classically trained garage band."

Origins

The members of Time for Three met while students at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Initially, they discovered a mutual interest in bluegrass and country fiddling, and Meyer added jazz and improvization to the mix as the three were "...playing together for fun..." Kendall and DePue were performing as members of the Philadelphia Orchestra when a thunderstorm knocked out the electricity. As electricians scurried to remedy the problem, they stepped up and played an acoustic jam session in the dark. The impromptu session's folk and country selections sparked interest in their eclectic work with Meyer and led to the trio becoming a professional unit.

Gwyneth Paltrow

Gwyneth Kate Paltrow (/ˈɡwɪnᵻθ ˈpæltroʊ/; born September 27, 1972) is an American actress, singer, and food writer. She first garnered worldwide recognition through her performance in Shakespeare in Love (1998), for which she won the Golden Globe, SAG, and Academy Award for Best Actress.

Paltrow is also known for roles in the films The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999), The Royal Tenenbaums (2001), and Proof (2005), for which she earned a Golden Globe nomination. Since 2008, she has portrayed Pepper Potts, the love interest of Iron Man in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. She also won an Emmy Award in 2011 for her role as Holly Holliday on the Fox hit TV show Glee.

Paltrow has been the face of Estée Lauder's Pleasures perfume since 2005. She is also the face of American fashion brand Coach, owner of a lifestyle company, and author of two cookbooks.

Early life and education

Paltrow was born in Los Angeles, California, the daughter of actress Blythe Danner and film producer/director Bruce Paltrow. Her father was Jewish and her mother is from a Christian background, and Paltrow was raised with "both Jewish and Christian holidays" (her brother had a Bar Mitzvah ceremony). Her father's Ashkenazi family immigrated from Belarus and Poland, while her mother has Pennsylvania Dutch (German), and some white Barbadian (English), ancestry. Paltrow's paternal great-great-grandfather, whose surname was "Paltrowicz," was a rabbi in Nowogród, Poland. Paltrow has a younger brother, director and screenwriter Jake Paltrow, and is a half-cousin of actress Katherine Moennig (through her mother), and a second cousin of former U.S. Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords (AZ-08) (through her father). Her uncle is opera singer and actor Harry Danner.