From the Top at Carnegie Hall Season 2, Program 4

From the Top at Carnegie Hall Full Program Podcast | PBS

This week, From the Top at Carnegie Hall showcases young performers from all across the country, beginning with 11-year old cellist Lev Mamuya from Newton, Massachusetts. One of the youngest performers to appear on the television show, Lev is also a proud member of Red Sox Nation and can’t get enough of his favorite candy, Skittles. We then meet 18-year old Eliodoro Vallecillo from Santa Cruz, California who, with the support of his family and his devoted music teacher, overcame great odds to become a rising young French horn player. Eliodoro performs the third movement Allegro from Mozart’s Concerto No. 3 in E-flat, K. 447. The Chicagoland-area Ridere String Quartet, comprised of 18-year olds Samantha Bennett, Ryan Meehan, Emma Steele, and Mindy Park, finds that not only do they play well together, but have a wonderful time doing so, and aptly named their group “Ridere”, the Italian word for laughter. The quartet rounds out the episode with a lively performance of Piazzolla’s Tango for Four.