George appeared on Show 403, airing October 4, 2021.

George Wolfe-McGuire (cello), 17, of Amityville, New York, has studied cello since age four and is now in his fourth year at the Pre-College Division of The Juilliard School as a student of Fred Sherry.  George was a semifinalist in the 2020 and 2021 Junior Division of the Sphinx Competition and is a recipient of the Sphinx Organization’s MPower Artist Grant. In the summer of 2017, George attended the Sphinx Performance Academy at the Cleveland Institute of Music where he performed in the masterclasses of Richard Weiss, First Assistant Principal of the Cleveland Orchestra. An active member of the Metropolitan String Orchestra since 2013, George has performed as a soloist with orchestras and string ensembles in many venues in the New York metropolitan region. In 2019 he received the Paul Rudolff award, given as a second prize in the annual Island Symphony Orchestra Young Performer’s Competition.

Recently, George has also been awarded first prize as well as the Waltham Cello Scholarship at the 2021 Kings Peak International Music Competition. George has spent summers honing his cello skills at the Bowdoin International Music Festival, The Meadowmount School of Music, Junior Greenwood Music Camp, and The Heifetz International Music Institute. Since the spring of 2019, George has been volunteering as OMP Ambassador, mentor, and cello instructor at the Opportunity Music Project, a non-profit that provides free instruction, instruments, and performance opportunities to young musicians in diverse underserved communities in New York City that traditionally do not have access to classical music education. George is also a member of the Back to Bach Project (BTB), where he performs for and speaks to young school children to expose them to classical music, as well as a cello teacher at the Do Re Mi Project. George is a ranked saber fencer who has competed in tournaments around the country including Nationals and the Junior Olympics.

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.