Jan appears on Show 459.

Jan Vargas Nedvetsky (cello), 18, is a Merit Scholarship Fellow at the Academy of the Music Institute of Chicago where he studies cello performance with Hans Jorgen Jensen and Oleksa Mycyk. Jan is a 2023-2024 scholarship recipient at the Academy of Music in Liechtenstein where he participates in masterclasses with Jens Peter Maintz and takes part in the intensive music weeks and activities. Previously Jan studied with Gilda Barston, Vladimir Perline, Horacio Contreras, and played in solo masterclasses with Jens Peter Maintz, Richard Aaron, Jerome Pernoo, Lluis Claret, John Sharp, Richard Hirschl, Brannon Cho, Ivan Karizna, Brandon Vamos, and Edward Arron.

As a solo and chamber performer Jan won numerous awards in competitions and soloed with orchestras in the US and Europe. In 2023 ,Jan made a solo debut at the Chicago Symphony Orchestra Hall with Civic Orchestra of Chicago as a prize winner of the 2023 Chicago Symphony Orchestra Young Artist Competition. Jan has performed recitals in Lake Placid NY, Vaduz, Liechtenstein, Eschen, Liechtenstein, Detroit, MI, Washington, DC, Miami, FL, Boise ID, Salmon, ID; soloed with Central Oregon Symphony Orchestra in Bend, Oregon and Lakeview Symphony in Chicago, Illinois. His upcoming engagements include chamber music recital in Cleveland, Ohio and participation in Gstaad Menuhin Academy in Gstaad, Switzerland.

Jan was named a 2024 YoungArts Winner with Distinction in Cello Performance, the highest honor of the National YoungArts Foundation. Additionally, Jan won First Prize in the 2023 Central Oregon Concerto Competition, 2023 Lakeview Orchestra Concerto Competition, 2022 Society of the American Musicians Competition, 2022 Chicago Chamber Orchestra Concerto Competition, and 2021 Chicago International Music Competition; received multiple awards in the Walgreens National Concerto Competition and DePaul National Concerto Festival, and was a finalist in the 2024 United States Marine Band Concerto Competition and 2024 Sphinx Competition.

With his chamber groups (string quartets and piano trio) Jan was a winner in 2021, 2022 and 2023 St Paul National String Quartet Competition, 2020 Chicago International Music Competition, 2019 and 2022 Barnett competition, and was a semi-finalist in four consecutive Fischoff National Chamber Music Competitions. He was coached in chamber music masterclasses by Menahem Pressler, Ivri Gitlis, Mathias Tacke, Sang Mee Lee, Paul Zafer, Jasmin Lin, Leipzig, Talich and Prazak string quartets.

Jan participated in the 2016-2021 Musica Mundi International Chamber Music Festivals in Waterloo, Belgium and 2022, 2023 Meadowmount School of Music in Westport, NY. He was featured on ABC and WTTW TV programs; WFMT Classical Radio, and TV Com Belgium.

He is a junior at North Atlantic Regional High School. In addition to performing and composing music, Jan pursues advanced studies in literature and economics.

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.