We’re celebrating a major milestone: our twenty-year partnership with the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation and the Foundation’s own twenty-fifth birthday. Thanks to their generosity we’ve awarded 428 remarkable young artists with financial need with $4.2 million in instruments, private lessons, program tuition, college audition trips, and much more. You’ll hear from the executive director of the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation as well as some of our illustrious alumni who have gone on to major careers in music after receiving the Jack Kent Cooke Young Artist Award as teens.

Show 472 – 20 Years of Jack Kent Cooke Young Artist Awards

Anthony Trionfo, Flute

Samantha Hankey, Mezzo Soprano

the Isidore String Quartet (Phoenix Avalon, violin; Adrian Steele, violin; Devin Moore, viola, and Joshua McClendon, cello)

Du Bois Orchestra (performance) / Interview with Karen Cueva

Interview with Giuseppe Basili, Executive Director, Jack Kent Cooke Foundation

Callisto Quartet (Cameron Daly, violin; Gregory Lewis, violin; Eva Kennedy, viola; and Hannah Moses, cello )

From the Top is America’s largest national platform celebrating the stories, talents, and character of classically-trained young musicians. Through live events, NPR and YouTube broadcasts, scholarships, and leadership programs, we empower these extraordinary young people to engage and inspire music lovers of all ages.

We hope you enjoy hearing the stories and music from NPR's From the Top with host Christopher O'Riley, the most popular weekly classical music program on public radio. 