Luis performs on Show 443.

Luis Diego Montero Hernández (clarinet), 17, was born in San José, Costa Rica. He began playing the clarinet at the age of 10, in the National Music Education System (SINEM) in Limon, on the Caribbean coast of the country. He was principal clarinet of the Carmen Lyra National Children’s Symphony Orchestra in 2014 and 2015. Luis Diego continued his clarinet studies in the pre-college program at the University of Costa Rica, Caribbean Campus, with Roberto Henry. Subsequently, Luis Diego moved to San Jose, Costa Rica, where he studied at the National Institute of Music with Lenín Izaguirre and Adrián Sandí. He was principal clarinet of the National Intermediate Symphony Orchestra in 2020, 2021, and 2022. At that same time, he was also selected as a member of the National Youth Symphony Orchestra, assigned as an assistant player due to his age. Since 2022, Luis Diego has been studying at the Interlochen Arts Academy (Michigan, USA), with Bryan Conger, Emil Khudyev, and Karen Benda. Luis Diego participated in the Luzerne Music Center Summer Camp in 2021 and the Interlochen Arts Academy Summer Camp in 2022. He participated in the Clarifest International Clarinet Festival in Guatemala in 2017 and 2019. He also participated in the 2019 Costa Rica International Clarinet Festival and the 2019 Costa Rica Caribbean Clarinet Festival. Luis Diego has had the opportunity to take masterclasses with Sócrates Villegas, Gabriel Campos Zamora, Juan Ferrer, Romy Bischoff, YaoGuang Zhai, Gervasio Tarragona Valli, Andrés Ramírez Villarraga, Sergio Reyes, Jérôme Comte, Luis Moscoso, Luis Víquez, Lin Ma, and John de la Paz.

Receiving the Jack Kent Cooke Young Artist Award will allow Luis Diego to continue his studies at the Interlochen Arts Academy through his senior year of high school.

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.