Aarushi performs on Show 448.

Aarushi Kumar (flute), 17, started playing flute when she was eight years old and has been in numerous ensembles during her nine years of playing. She in the Vanderbilt Blair School of Music’s most advanced orchestra, the Curb Youth Symphony, in which she plays principal flute under the direction of Associate Conductor of the Nashville Symphony Nathan Aspinall. Aarushi has made the Tennessee Mid-State band consecutively since the seventh grade and the All-State band throughout high school, sitting principal twice and second chair three times.

Aarushi attended the Interlochen Arts Academy summer program in 2023 as well as the Youth Orchestra of Los Angeles National (YOLA National) under the baton of Gustavo Dudamel, conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, in which she also sat in the principal chair. Aarushi has been an active musician in the Nashville Symphony Accelerando program since 2021 and receives her direction and private lessons under the Nashville Symphony’s Assistant Principal Flutist Leslie Fagan.

Because of the Accelerando program, Aarushi has been fortunate enough to play alongside the Chicago Symphony and Cincinnati Symphony musicians at the National Pathways Festival, an annual festival run by Equity Arc. She will finish her years as a musician in the National Pathways Festival with their 2024 festival with the Nashville Symphony sitting principal chair.

In the future, Aarushi hopes to pursue a career in freelancing as a woodwind doubler in musicals, a substitute musician in reputable orchestras, and playing music at gigs all while pursuing her interest in neuroscience research as a day job. Music has influenced Aarushi to become her best self, and she wishes that her journey in musicianship will be never-ending and will cultivate herself to be the best she can be both musically and personally.

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.

Grammy Award winning/Nashville-based bassist Victor Wooten joined From the Top as Co-Host on our special Nashville episode in 2024.  Well known as a founding member of the supergroup Bela Fleck and the Flecktones, Wooten is an accomplished musician/composer and skilled naturalist and teacher. From the Top was thrilled to visit Victor Wooten’s Center for Music and Nature during our visit to Nashville. Read Victor’s full bio on his website.