Gallia performs on Show 399, recorded at the Colburn School of Music in Los Angeles, California. As a teenager, she appeared on Show 272 and on Show 277 with Quartet Lumière, both recorded in 2013.

Gallia Kastner has been the concertmaster of the American Youth Symphony since 2016 and has won numerous local, national, and international competitions, both as a soloist and a chamber musician. She is a winner of the Pasadena Showcase Competition, the Cooper International Violin Competition, the Blount Slawson National Concerto Competition in Montgomery, Alabama, the Triennial Johansen International Competition in Washington DC, and most recently the American Youth Symphony Concerto Competition, which includes an opportunity to solo with the orchestra in the Fall of 2019. An avid chamber musician, Gallia was a member of the Lumiére String Quartet that won first place at the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition and she was also the violinist of Trio Solaris, which collaborated with the Trey McIntyre Project at Jacob’s Pillow. Some of Gallia’s performances with orchestras include The Chicago Symphony Orchestra, The Cleveland Symphony Orchestra, The Gettysburg Chamber Orchestra in Pennsylvania, and The Montgomery Symphony. Gallia performs on an 1843 Giovanni Francesco Pressenda Violin on generous loan from the Mandell Collection of Southern California.

Program Bio from Show 272:

Gallia Kastner (violin), 16, is from Arlington Heights, Illinois, where she attends the Music Institute of Chicago and studies under Almita and Roland Vamos. She is a recipient of From the TopÕs Jack Kent Cooke Young Artist Award. This year, she won Montgomery Symphony OrchestraÕs Blount-Slawson Young Artist Competition. Outside of music, Gallia is very involved in her church youth group.

Nathaniel performs on Show 399, recorded at The Colburn School in Los Angeles, California.

Nathaniel Yue (cello), 14 is from San Marino, California and in the eighth grade at Huntington Middle School. He studies cello with Vardan Gasparyan at the Colburn Community School, and piano with Nobuyo Nishizaka. He is part of the Honors Chamber Music Scholarship Program and is the Regional Co-Director of Back to Bach project in Greater Pasadena/San Gabriel Valley. Nathaniel has performed in Moscow, Carnegie Hall, and Musikverein in Vienna. In 2020, Nathaniel won first place in the 2020 Bellflower Symphony Concerto Competition for Young Artists and was also accepted to the 2020 Piatigorsky International Cello Festival Young Cellist Workshop, but unfortunately the performances connected to these events were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Outside of music, Nathaniel enjoys video games, learning to code, math club, skiing, biking, and eating with family and friends.

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.