Minnesota Varsity alumni appearing on 'From the Top'

Minnesota Varsity — Classical MPR's showcase for young classical instrumentalists, composers, and singers — is now in its seventh season. In its history, Varsity alumni have gone on to have great successes: studying at some of the country's finest music schools, winning prestigious competitions, and performing in esteemed halls around the world.

In addition to those accolades, Varsity alumni will be appearing on an upcoming installment of From the Top — the long-running national platform for classically-trained talent (aged 8 to 18), hosted by Christopher O'Riley. The taping will take place 3 p.m., Nov. 13, at Ordway Concert Hall.

The three alumni appearing on the episode are:

• Clarinetist Anders Peterson, 17, from Northfield, Minn. — 2016 Minnesota Varsity Showcase Artist

• Pianist Evren Ozel, 17, from Minneapolis — 2014 Minnesota Varsity Showcase Artist

• Violinist Emma Richman, 18, from Minneapolis — 2013 Minnesota Varsity Showcase Artist (with the Luna Quartet)

In a recent conversation with Classical MPR's Elena See, O'Riley noted that it wasn't all that surprising to see so much local talent on one episode. "Often times, we'll have no more than I think two local kids on each show because we don't want it to be a sort of parochial thing," he said. "But you get to places like San Francisco or Chicago or the Twin Cities and you just can't escape the plethora of talent. We've never had a more enthusiastic and crowded stream of applicants as we had for our Schubert Club show."

It's not just the Nov. 13 taping that will be featuring Minnesota talent. As the From the Top host pointed out, this season will feature a number of local, young Classical musicians. "We are not only auditioning the kids for the Schubert Club show, but the best and the brightest from that audition round will be flown to Hawaii or Idaho or Chicago or New York or whatever. So the Twin Cities will be now well represented over I think a wide swath of shows in the coming year."

O'Riley has hosted From the Top for 17 years, and in that time, a number of Minnesota musicians have made appearances on the show (Ozel and Richman have been featured before, this will be Peterson's first appearance). O'Riley says that the young performers keep getting more and more talented. "We now have kids who grew up fantasizing about being on From the Top who are now appearing on From the Top. We're very much proud and gratified to have become really the national platform for an extraordinary and growing and burgeoning population of incredibly talented young musicians."

In his time as host, O'Riley says the most gratifying and memorable aspect to his job has been "as a solo pianist dancing with four different partners on every show, and them bringing the five minutes of music that's most dear to them and my putting myself at their service. And so I am soaking up their musical sensibilities and that only informs my own musicality. So it's been incredibly gratifying and continues to be."

This season of Minnesota Varsity is currently open for submissions, and will be open until the Dec. 5 deadline. From the Top can be heard every Sunday at noon on Classical MPR. To purchase tickets for the live taping, visit the Ordway Ticket Office online, or call 651.224.4222. If you can't make it to the taping, you can tune in to Classical MPR and hear it at noon on Dec. 4.

Anders Peterson

Evren Ozel

Emma Richman (with the Luna Quartet)