'From the Top at Carnegie Hall' Returns to PBS This Spring

'From the Top at Carnegie Hall' Returns to PBS This Spring

Season Two of the Award Winning Series Premieres on Thirteen/WNET Sunday, June 15

NEW YORK, June 11 /PRNewswire/ -- America's most extraordinary young musicians aged 8 to 18 will be showcased this spring and summer when From the Top at Carnegie Hall returns for its second season on Thirteen/WNET Sundays at 11:30 a.m. beginning June 15. Based on the popular NPR program, From the Top at Carnegie Hall showcases the musical talents, offbeat humor, and compelling stories of America's best young classical musicians revealing that they bring passion and perseverance not only to music, but to everything from speed skating and soccer, to fashion design and model trains.

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080611/NEW020 )

The series is hosted by acclaimed pianist Christopher O'Riley and is a co-production of WGBH, From the Top, and Don Mischer Productions in partnership with Carnegie Hall. Emmy Award-winning director and Juilliard School alumnus Gary Halvorson produced and directed the second season. With a combined list of credits including Friends, Everybody Loves Raymond, the televised Grand Reopening of Carnegie Hall, and the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, the production team of Halvorson and Don Mischer Productions represents an unprecedented collaboration for public television, and a rare one for the entertainment world at large.

Season Two of From the Top at Carnegie Hall promises to be more intimate and engage viewers more personally with each of the featured musicians: "Last year we produced a show about classical music played by kids," said Don Mischer. "This year we are making a show about kids, all of whom play classical music." Viewers will accompany these sensational young performers backstage at Carnegie Hall, as well as to their hometowns where they'll see a family bathroom double as the most acoustically pleasing rehearsal space in a young violist's home. They'll also meet a trumpet player who performs in a Manhattan jazz club frequented by the likes of Tony Bennett, and a spirited young marimba player who explains that rhythm exists not only on the performance stage but all around him, even as he does his chores.

From the Top at Carnegie Hall recently launched a brand new Web site at pbs.org/fromthetop. The site features streaming video, downloadable podcasts, and series and performer information, along with an extensive teacher's handbook including activity guides, lesson plans, and an educator's index that groups content by instrument, genre, and composer. Season One episodes of the series are currently available to view on the site with new Season Two episodes to be added throughout the spring and summer.

Executive producers for From the Top at Carnegie Hall are Laurie Donnelly for WGBH, Gerald Slavet and Jennifer Hurley-Wales for From The Top, and Don Mischer for Don Mischer Productions.

Exclusive corporate funding for From the Top at Carnegie Hall is provided by Liberty Mutual Insurance. Responsibility. What's Your Policy? Major foundation funding is provided by the Bernard Osher Foundation -- proud to celebrate From the Top at Carnegie Hall's second season and the commitment of young people to music and the arts. Additional funding is provided by the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation, Helen and Peter Bing, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the E.H.A. Foundation.

   MEDIA CONTACTS   Ann Petruccelli            Erika Denn   WGBH                       WGBH   617.300.5331               617.300.5346   ann_petruccelli@wgbh.org   erika_denn@wgbh.org    

WGBH Boston is America's preeminent public broadcasting producer, the source of fully one-third of PBS's prime-time lineup, along with some of public television's best-known lifestyle shows and children's programs and many public radio favorites. WGBH is the number one producer of Web sites on pbs.org, one of the most trafficked dot-org Web sites in the world. WGBH is a pioneer in educational multimedia and in technologies and services that make media accessible to the 36 million Americans who rely on captioning or video descriptions. WGBH has been recognized with hundreds of honors: Emmys, Peabodys, duPont-Columbia Awards ... even two Oscars. In 2002, WGBH was honored with a special institutional Peabody Award for 50 years of excellence. For more information visit www.wgbh.org

From the Top is an independent non-profit organization that celebrates the passion, dedication and personal stories of the nation's outstanding young classical musicians. Through entertaining radio and television broadcasts, online media, and a national tour of live events and outreach programs, these performers inspire the pursuit of excellence, and encourage participation in the arts as an integral part of a vibrant and civil society. From the Top's training and mentorship programs prepare young musicians to serve as positive peer role models, connect with new audiences, and give back to their communities in different ways.

Don Mischer Productions is an internationally acclaimed production company with a commitment to producing programs that share the best of human experience, whether it be the work of our most acclaimed artists or the celebration of our most cherished monuments and greatest international events. Credits include the opening and closing ceremonies of the Salt Lake Winter Olympic Games, the Kennedy Center Honors, PBS Dance in America, the 100th Anniversary of Carnegie Hall, Motown 25, the Presidential Inaugural Gala, Barbra Streisand's Millennium Concert in Las Vegas, and the Superbowl Halftime Shows with Paul McCartney, the Rolling Stones, and Prince.

Carnegie Hall presents the world's great soloists, ensembles, and orchestras in its renowned Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage, its technologically advanced Zankel Hall, and its intimate Weill Recital Hall. The legendary concert venue presents over 200 events each year and produces such acclaimed series as Perspectives, Making Music, and Distinctive Debuts; it is also home to over 500 independently produced events. The establishment of The Weill Music Institute at Carnegie Hall in 2003 to develop and implement Carnegie Hall's education programs provides expanded opportunities for Carnegie Hall to move forward as an international performing arts center representing the highest level of musical performance and arts education.

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Photo: NewsCom: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080611/NEW020
AP Archive: http://photoarchive.ap.org/
PRN Photo Desk, photodesk@prnewswire.com

Source: WGBH Boston

CONTACT: Ann Petruccelli, +1-617-300-5331, ann_petruccelli@wgbh.org, or
Erika Denn, +1-617-300-5346, erika_denn@wgbh.org, both of WGBH Boston

Web site: http://www.wgbh.org/
http://www.pbs.org/fromthetop

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Profile: International Entertainment