Christy performs on Show 440.

Christy Kim(violin), 18, is a junior at William Mason High School in Ohio. She started playing the violin at the age of six, and currently studies with Desiree Ruhstrat. She won top prizes in the 2023 Matinée Musicale Cincinnati Nancy F. Walker Memorial Scholarship Competition, the 2021 David L. Pierson Concerto Competition, the 2020 Jack & Lucille Wonnell Young Artist Concerto Competition, and the 2018–19 Cincinnati Symphony Youth Orchestra (Concert) Concerto Competition and performed as a soloist with the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra, the Blue Ash Montgomery Symphony Orchestra, and with the Cincinnati Symphony Youth Orchestra (Concert). She was also awarded prizes in the 2023 YoungArts National Competition, the 2023 Walgreens National Concerto Competition, the 2022 and 2023 Overture Awards, the 2022 Sejong Music Competition, the 2022 Society of American Musicians Violin Competition, and in the 2019 Louisville Young Artist Concerto Competition.

Christy is the concertmaster of the Cincinnati Symphony Youth Orchestra (Philharmonic), and also plays in the Mason Symphony Orchestra and her school Symphony Chamber Orchestra. She served as concertmaster of the Ohio Music Education Association All-State and Southwest Regional Orchestras for the 2022 and 2023 seasons, as well as the Cincinnati Symphony Youth Orchestra (Concert) for the 2018–19 and 2019–20 seasons. She participated in the National Youth Orchestra 2 (2022).

Christy has traveled to diverse festivals, including the Bowdoin International Music Festival (2019, 2020), the Innsbrook Institute of Music (2018), and the Cincinnati Young Artists Music Festival (2017, 2019). She has played in masterclasses for Marina Chiche, Vadim Gluzman, Karen Gomyo, Tessa Lark, Timothy Lees, and Esther Yoo.

Outside of music, Christy enjoys reading classic novels, sketching, and spending time with her younger sister.

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.