Teen talent, and angst, in 'From the Top'

May 25, 2007|Jeremy Eichler, Globe Staff

The teetering state of musical education in this country is a well-known fact. And even if you're a kid who's lucky or privileged enough to get exposed to -- and excited by -- classical music, there's still a lot of social pressure against taking seriously something that's so uncool in the minds of your peers. I know an accordionist who jokes that it took years of therapy to recover from the taunting he endured as a student carrying an accordion on his back through the hallways of his high school. You can just imagine the scene.

"The classical image is that whoever's in orchestra right now is a geek or something" says 18-year-old Charles Yang, a shaggy-haired high school violinist from Austin, Texas, one of the bright talents of "From the Top," the self-produced public radio show spotlighting young musicians that is partnered locally with WGBH -FM (89.7 ). "I think we should do something about that, like Hendrix revolutionized the guitar."

If anyone could, it's Yang. In his spare time, he goes off-roading, sings in a band, and plays classical violin with the charisma of a rock star. His high school buddies had apparently never seen him play violin, and in one segment from an early episode of "From the Top: Live From Carnegie Hall" -- the show's new television series -- Yang's mom plays the friends a home video of her son tearing through the Tchaikovsky Concerto as a soloist in front of an orchestra. Yang hides his face in embarrassment, but his friends are absolutely stunned.

Capturing stories like that one, and bringing players like Yang into the public spotlight, has been one of the longtime missions of this excellent radio show. This season "From the Top" has expanded its franchise, with a half-hour television show that airs nationally on PBS, recorded in front of an audience at Carnegie Hall's Zankel Hall. This Sunday (at 5 p.m. on WGBH, Channel 2) the show will spotlight New England Conservatory's Youth Philharmonic Orchestra led by Benjamin Zander. Both the television and radio versions are affably hosted by Christopher O'Riley, a classical pianist who has been bridging worlds with his own performance career, recording intriguing versions of songs by Radiohead and Elliott Smith.