Tessa joins From the Top as Co-Host on Show 406, recorded in Louisville, Kentucky, Show 397, recorded in New York, New York, and  Show 376  from Boston, Massachusetts.

She is an alumna of From the Top, having appeared on Shows 93, 243 and 286.

Violinist Tessa Lark, recipient of a 2018 Borletti-Buitoni Trust Fellowship and a 2016 Avery Fisher Career Grant, Silver Medalist in the 2014 International Violin Competition of Indianapolis, and winner of the 2012 Naumburg International Violin Competition, is one of the most captivating artistic voices of our time. A budding superstar in the classical realm, she is also a highly acclaimed fiddler in the tradition of her native Kentucky. Since making her concerto debut with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra at sixteen, Ms. Lark has appeared with dozens of orchestras, festivals, and recital venues which include Carnegie Hall, Ravinia, San Francisco Performances, Marlboro Music, Lincoln Center’s Great Performers Series, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, and Australia’s Musica Viva Festival. Recent and upcoming highlights include debuts with the Seattle and Indianapolis symphonies and the Buffalo and Rochester philharmonics. In January 2019, she made her debut with the Albany Symphony Orchestra in the world premiere of SKY, a bluegrass-inspired violin concerto written for her by Michael Torke, and since then she has performed the work with numerous other orchestras. Ms. Lark is a graduate of New England Conservatory with an Artist Diploma from The Juilliard School. She plays a ca.1600 G.P. Maggini violin on loan from an anonymous donor through the Stradivari Society of Chicago.

Recently, Tessa received the 2020 Lincoln Center Emerging Artist Award, the Hunt Family Award, and a 2020 Grammy Nomination for Best Classical Instrumental Solo for her recording of Michael Torke‘s Sky Concerto.

Follow her on Instagram @tessalark.

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.

Prizing versatility as the key to the future of classical music, pianist Peter Dugan is equally at home in classical, jazz, and pop idioms.

He is heard nationwide as the  host of NPR’s beloved program From the Top.  He has appeared as a soloist, recitalist, and chamber musician across North America and abroad. 

In 2020, Mr Dugan performed with Joshua Bell on a PBS Broadcast “At Home with Music” and appeared on  the album of the same name on Sony Classical. He was also featured on PBS Great Performances with mezzo-soprano Kara Dugan for the series “Now Hear This”.

A sought-after multi-genre artist, Mr. Dugan has performed in duos and trios with artists ranging from Itzhak Perlman and Renee Fleming to Jesse Colin Young and Glenn Close. Mr Dugan’s debut performances with Michael Tilson Thomas and the San Francisco Symphony were described by the Los Angeles Times as “stunning” and by the SF Chronicle as “fearlessly athletic.” The Wall Street Journal described Mr. Dugan’s collaboration with violinist Charles Yang as a “classical-meets-rockstar duo.” Mr. Dugan has been presented in chamber music recitals by Carnegie Hall, Chamber Music Society of Palm Beach, Music at Menlo, Moab Music Festival, and recently in recital with Joshua Bell at the Minnesota Beethoven Festival.  He was the 2019 featured recitalist for the California Association of Professional Music Teachers, and has soloed with the San Francisco Symphony, Houston Symphony, Kansas City Symphony, New World Symphony, and Mid-Texas Symphony.

His album with baritone John Brancy –  A Silent Night: A WWI Memorial in Song – pays homage to composers who lived through, fought in, and died in the Great War. Brancy and Dugan toured this program across North America in commemoration of the centennial of WWI, including performances at The Kennedy Center, Alice Tully Hall, Stanford University, the United States Naval Academy, and the Smithsonian Institute.  Together Brancy and Dugan won first prize at the 2018 Montreal International Music Competition and second prize at the 2017 Wigmore Hall International Song Competition. He can also be heard as the piano soloist on a recording of Ives’ Fourth Symphony from Tilson Thomas and the San Francisco Symphony, a recording which the New York Times named one of the top classical albums of 2019. 

Mr. Dugan advocates the importance of music in the community and at all levels of society.  As a founding creator of Operation Superpower, a superhero opera for children, he 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.

Mr. Dugan holds Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from The Juilliard School, where he studied under Matti Raekallio. He was a recipient of the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation’s Young Scholar, College Scholar, and Graduate Scholar awards.

He resides in New York City with his wife, mezzo-soprano Kara Dugan, and serves on the piano faculty at the Juilliard School Evening Division. Mr. Dugan is a Yamaha Artist.

Spencer performed on Show 397 recorded in New York.

Spencer Rubin (oboe), 16, hails from Woodbury, New York, and is in his junior year at Syosset High School. He is a music student at The Juilliard School Pre-College Division where he studies with Elaine Douvas and Yousun Chung. He has attended Aspen Music Festival, Hidden Valley Music Festival, Juilliard Summer Winds Festival, Boston University Tanglewood Institute’s Young Artists Orchestra, and the Interlochen Arts Camp. Spencer was named a 2020 YoungArts Finalist and attended YoungArts week in Miami, Florida. Spencer has earned numerous awards in international competitions resulting in performances at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall, Merkin Recital Hall, and an invitation to perform at London’s Royal Albert Hall. As a soloist, Spencer has performed with the New York Chamber Orchestra and will be performing with the Queensboro Symphony Orchestra and The Island Symphony Orchestra during their upcoming seasons. As a chamber musician, he was a grand prize winner of the National League of Performing Arts Competition and was a two-time winner of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center’s youth competition. Outside of music, Spencer enjoys oil painting, sculpting, hiking, and traveling.