This week's From the Top comes from Pepperdine University in Malibu, California, where a 16-year-old French horn player with an inspirational story performs Saint-Saëns. Also, a teen trio plays music by Arutiunian, and two young guitarists collaborate on traditional tunes in the presence of their idol, the legendary Christopher Parkening.
The members of the J-Cubed Clarinet Trio admit that they spend a lot of time joking, gossiping and playing around during their practice sessions. But once they hit the stage, they're all business. They perform music from Alexander Arutiunian's Suite for Clarinet, Violin and Piano.
Carlo Corrieri, 18, hails from Italy, but these days he lives in California and studies guitar at Pepperdine with his idol Christopher Parkening. After participating in a Parkening master class in Montana, Carlo was thrilled to be accepted as his student. He performs Castelnuovo-Tedesco's Capriccio Diabolico.
Another guitarist, thirteen-year-old Timothy Callobre, is a From the Top old-timer, who first appeared on the program when he was just 10 years old. He's back to play a movement from 'La Catedral,' by Barrios, and then joins Carlo to perform two traditional pieces, "Le Rossignol," transcribed by Russ and Parkening, and "El Paño moruno," arranged by Len Williams.
Eliodoro Vallecillo, 16, says that exploring new musical frontiers has increased his exposure to traditional Mexican music. Now a member of the San Francisco Youth Symphony, he performs Saint-Saëns' Morceau de Concert, with host Christopher O'Riley at the piano.
This program originally aired Feb. 7, 2007
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