Hannah performs on Show 445.

Hannah Cho (oboe), 16, hails from Tustin, California. She is currently a junior at Pacific Academy and a full scholarship student at Colburn Music Academy. She has been recognized as a National YoungArts 2023 finalist, first place winner in the U.S. Navy Band Young Artist Solo Competition, and the California MTNA (Music Teachers National Association) Senior performance competition, second place winner in the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra Young Artist Competition, U.S Army Orchestra Young Artist Competition, amongst others. As a chamber musician, soloist, and orchestral musician appearing with the NYO2 2022 Orchestra and Principal of the 2022 NAfME All-National Symphony Orchestra, she has played in various halls across the countries multiple times, including the New World Center, Merkin Hall, Nixon Library, and Carnegie Hall. In addition, she performed the Marcello Oboe concerto in May 2023 with the U.S. Navy Band as a follow-up to her 1st place finish in their Young Artist Solo Competition.

She currently studies with Eugene Izotov at Colburn Music Academy and Pacific Symphony oboist Ted Sugata. She previously studied with Curtis faculty and Baltimore Symphony Principal Katherine Needleman on a scholarship, and Santa Monica Symphony Principal Victoria Lee. She has attended masterclasses with Curtis faculty and Philadelphia Principal Philippe Tondre, Juilliard Faculty, and MET opera Co-Principals Nathan Hughes and Elaine Douvas, amongst others.

Hannah’s love for music and the community inspired her to create Empowering Arts (www.empoweringarts.org), a non-profit organization that brings arts to the community with concerts and art classes at various children’s learning centers and multiple nursing facilities throughout Orange County. She also serves as an oboe teacher and a mentor to two elementary school students at El Sol Academy. In her free time, she enjoys running, hiking, baking, reading Asian-authored lit, watching films, trying new coffee shops, going to museums, traveling, and listening to classical and popular music.

Ariana performs on Show 445.

Ariana Kim (bassoon), 16, hails from Irvine, California and is a junior at Orange County School of the Arts. In 2023, she was selected as a soloist for the OCSA concerto competition, semifinalist for The Music Center’s Spotlight, and honorable mention for the Music Teachers National Association State Competition. Ariana started the bassoon at the age of six at the Tampere Conservatory in Finland, where she was an annual Conservatory winner. In sixth grade she was given full scholarship to the Orange County Music and Dance Studio. She attended multiple music programs as a scholarship student such as the Interlochen Summer Arts Camp in 2021, and Brevard Music Center in 2022. She has participated in all-state and all-southern groups since middle school, most recently playing in the California All-State Symphony Orchestra in 2023. Ariana has held the principal position in the Pacific Symphony Youth Orchestra for 2 years, and is a cofounder of Sol Soul Seoul, an organization that supports teenage North Korean refugees through benefit concerts. She has played in masterclasses for Daniel Matsukawa, principal of the Philadelphia Orchestra, Whitney Crocket, principal of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, William Short, principal of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, and Eric Stromberg, Professor at Kansas University. She currently studies with Minho Lee.

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.

Peter Dugan prizes versatility as the hallmark of today’s musician and advocates for a classical music culture that is inclusive and welcoming to all. That approach has manifested in a multifaceted and dynamic career as a pianist, composer, collaborator, and radio host.

A musician equally at home in classical, jazz, and pop idioms, he has appeared as soloist, recitalist, and chamber musician across North America and around the world. His performance of the Ives Fourth Symphony with the San Francisco Symphony and Michael Tilson Thomas was described by the Los Angeles Times as “stunning” and by the San Francisco Chronicle as “fearlessly athletic” and was recorded for release; he repeated the Ives project in a series of four concerts for the Houston Symphony with Andrés Orozco-Estrada. He had previously collaborated with MTT at the New World Symphony and has made other orchestra appearances with the Kansas City Symphony, New Albany Symphony, Philadelphia Youth Orchestra, Johnstown Symphony, and Annapolis Chamber Orchestra.

Peter is heard on radios nationwide weekly as host of NPR’s From the Top. His approach stems from his commitment to sharing classical music through his warm-hearted openness to young voices; and in addition to hosting the show, he leads inspiring collaborations, conversations, and performances with the young artists. Classical Sonoma observed: “Mr. Dugan’s seemingly inexhaustible energy, combined with a dedicated teacher’s heart and musical artistry, is inspiring to observe… That geniality and dynamism translates directly into his music making. One gets the feeling that he is reaching out for that magic, elusive connection. And he succeeds.”

He’s an active and passionate collaborator who has toured extensively with violinists Joshua Bell and Charles Yang, and vocalists John Brancy and Kara Dugan (his wife)—partnerships which have resulted in recording projects, documentaries, music videos, and a first-prize win at the Montreal Competition. He also regularly performs with other friends and artists who share a passion for expanding the world of classical music, from Jesse Colin Young to Renee Fleming to Paquito D’Rivera to Itzhak Perlman.

As a composer, Peter has performed his own works everywhere from Carnegie Hall to Joe’s Pub, and his arrangements have been released by Disney+. He is co-writing with his brother Leonardo Dugan a new piano concerto, set to debut in spring 2026, and also collaborates with his colleagues to create electrifying arrangements of pop music. Supportive of new music, he has worked with the American Contemporary Music Ensemble and presented several world premieres. Peter is also comfortable jamming and improvising on piano and melodica with the likes of bassist Victor Wooten, violinists Tessa Lark and Charles Yang, and actress Glenn Close.

In 2020, he joined acclaimed violinist Joshua Bell for At Home With Music, a national PBS broadcast and live album release on Sony Classical. Since then, he has continued his collaboration with Joshua, touring internationally with recitals at London’s Wigmore Hall, Taipei’s National Theater and Concert Hall, and the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. In Fall 2024, the duo performs across the United States, South America, and Australia.

The Wall Street Journal described Peter’s collaboration with violinist and vocalist Charles Yang as a “classical-meets-rockstar duo.” Their creativity has resulted in a musical comedy show with violist and Tonight Show veteran Isabel Hagen.

Peter’s latest album with baritone John Brancy—The Journey Home: Live from the Kennedy Center—was released on Avie Records in 2021, along with an accompanying documentary film from WNET’s AllArts. They have given recitals together at Alice Tully Hall, Carnegie Hall, and the Kennedy Center, and together won first prize at the 2018 Montreal International Music Competition. Peter’s latest project with violinist Sean Lee was PaganiniXSchumann, a digital EP release that accompanied a live performance at Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center of all 24 Paganini Caprices with piano parts written by Robert Schumann.

In Peter’s performances with his wife, mezzo-soprano Kara Dugan, repertoire ranges from art song to American Songbook, to original songs and world premieres. The Dugans have appeared at Boston’s Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, WQXR’s Greene Space, and on PBS Great Performances’ Now Hear This.

As a founding creator of Operation Superpower, a superhero opera for children, Peter 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. He is head of the Artist in Residence program at pianoSonoma and a founding faculty member of the Resonance and Soundboard Institutes at Honeywell Arts Academy.

Peter Dugan holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from The Juilliard School, where he studied under Matti Raekallio. He resides in New York City and is a Yamaha Artist.