Sonya performs on Show 440.

Sonya Moomaw (cello), 12, hails from Cincinnati, Ohio, and is an eighth grader at The School for Creative and Performing Arts (SCPA). She was inspired to play cello at a young age. At three years old, she started her formal cello training with Dr. Sarah Kim, who she has been studying with for the last nine years.

Throughout her musical journey, Sonya has participated in and won several competitions, including the Cleveland Cello Society (CCS) Elementary Division in 2018, and the CCS Junior Division in 2022. She was also a first-place winner with judges’ distinction in the Fall 2018 American Protégé Music Talent Competition, which awarded her the opportunity to play at Carnegie Hall in New York City. She won first place in the 2020 Julia Bartles Concerto Competition, and was the 2021 Music Teachers National Association (MTNA) Junior Strings Competition winner for the state of Ohio. In 2023, she was the national winner of the MTNA Junior Strings Competition.

In December 2019, Sonya made her orchestral debut with the University of Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, where she performed the first movement of the Haydn C Major Cello Concerto. In March of 2023, she performed the Saint-Säens Cello Concerto No. 1, with the Seven Hills Symphony Orchestra. She is currently a member of the SCPA Chamber Orchestra under the direction of Brian Siekmann, and the Seven Hills Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Dr. AikKhai Pung.

In addition to classical music, she also loves playing and listening to jazz and bluegrass. She began studying jazz in 2020 and continues to learn under the guidance of Joe Policastro and Erwin Stuckey. She enjoys playing in the jazz jams at The Lounge in Cincinnati and with the jazz ensembles at SCPA. When she was six years old, she started playing at a local bluegrass jam. She has since been invited to play with the Missy Werner Band at the Cincinnati Appalachian Festival, the Taste of Cincinnati, Flight 88, and at local bars and breweries like Mad Tree, The Comet, High Grain, and Molly Malone’s.

Peter was named Host of From the Top in January 2020.

Peter Dugan’s position is sponsored by Susan and Gerald Slavet.

Peter first appeared on From the Top Show 158, recorded in April 2007, at age 18.

Peter Dugan prizes versatility as the hallmark of today’s musician and advocates for a classical music culture that is inclusive and welcoming to all. That approach has manifested in a multifaceted and dynamic career as a pianist, composer, collaborator, and radio host.

A musician equally at home in classical, jazz, and pop idioms, he has appeared as soloist, recitalist, and chamber musician across North America and around the world. His performance of the Ives Fourth Symphony with the San Francisco Symphony and Michael Tilson Thomas was described by the Los Angeles Times as “stunning” and by the San Francisco Chronicle as “fearlessly athletic” and was recorded for release; he repeated the Ives project in a series of four concerts for the Houston Symphony with Andrés Orozco-Estrada. He had previously collaborated with MTT at the New World Symphony and has made other orchestra appearances with the Kansas City Symphony, New Albany Symphony, Philadelphia Youth Orchestra, Johnstown Symphony, and Annapolis Chamber Orchestra.

Peter is heard on radios nationwide weekly as host of NPR’s From the Top. His approach stems from his commitment to sharing classical music through his warm-hearted openness to young voices; and in addition to hosting the show, he leads inspiring collaborations, conversations, and performances with the young artists. Classical Sonoma observed: “Mr. Dugan’s seemingly inexhaustible energy, combined with a dedicated teacher’s heart and musical artistry, is inspiring to observe… That geniality and dynamism translates directly into his music making. One gets the feeling that he is reaching out for that magic, elusive connection. And he succeeds.”

He’s an active and passionate collaborator who has toured extensively with violinists Joshua Bell and Charles Yang, and vocalists John Brancy and Kara Dugan (his wife)—partnerships which have resulted in recording projects, documentaries, music videos, and a first-prize win at the Montreal Competition. He also regularly performs with other friends and artists who share a passion for expanding the world of classical music, from Jesse Colin Young to Renee Fleming to Paquito D’Rivera to Itzhak Perlman.

As a composer, Peter has performed his own works everywhere from Carnegie Hall to Joe’s Pub, and his arrangements have been released by Disney+. He is co-writing with his brother Leonardo Dugan a new piano concerto, set to debut in spring 2026, and also collaborates with his colleagues to create electrifying arrangements of pop music. Supportive of new music, he has worked with the American Contemporary Music Ensemble and presented several world premieres. Peter is also comfortable jamming and improvising on piano and melodica with the likes of bassist Victor Wooten, violinists Tessa Lark and Charles Yang, and actress Glenn Close.

In 2020, he joined acclaimed violinist Joshua Bell for At Home With Music, a national PBS broadcast and live album release on Sony Classical. Since then, he has continued his collaboration with Joshua, touring internationally with recitals at London’s Wigmore Hall, Taipei’s National Theater and Concert Hall, and the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. In Fall 2024, the duo performed across the United States, South America, and Australia.

The Wall Street Journal described Peter’s collaboration with violinist and vocalist Charles Yang as a “classical-meets-rockstar duo.” Their creativity has resulted in a musical comedy show with violist and Tonight Show veteran Isabel Hagen.

Peter’s latest album with baritone John Brancy—The Journey Home: Live from the Kennedy Center—was released on Avie Records in 2021, along with an accompanying documentary film from WNET’s AllArts. They have given recitals together at Alice Tully Hall, Carnegie Hall, and the Kennedy Center, and together won first prize at the 2018 Montreal International Music Competition. Peter’s latest project with violinist Sean Lee was PaganiniXSchumann, a digital EP release that accompanied a live performance at Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center of all 24 Paganini Caprices with piano parts written by Robert Schumann.

In Peter’s performances with his wife, mezzo-soprano Kara Dugan, repertoire ranges from art song to American Songbook, to original songs and world premieres. The Dugans have appeared at Boston’s Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, WQXR’s Greene Space, and on PBS Great Performances’ Now Hear This.

As a founding creator of Operation Superpower, a superhero opera for children, Peter has traveled to dozens of schools in the greater New York area, performing for students and encouraging them to use their talents—their superpowers—for good. He is head of the Artist in Residence program at pianoSonoma and a founding faculty member of the Resonance and Soundboard Institutes at Honeywell Arts Academy.

Peter Dugan holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from The Juilliard School, where he studied under Matti Raekallio. He resides in New York City and is a Yamaha Artist.