From The Top: Tiny Desk Concert

From the creator

Tom Huizenga | January 15, 2025 There is no greater day each year at the Tiny Desk, for this music nerd, than when we host young musicians from the organization called From the Top. Through its 25 years of radio broadcasts, digital content and fellowships, FTT is a robust platform that showcases and supports young musicians around the country. And the three teenaged artists they’ve gathered here will renew your faith in the future of music. Thirteen-year-old Cameron Renshaw, from Byron Center, Mich., is a born entertainer. “I really pour my heart out whenever I play,” he told Ellen DeGeneres when he appeared on her program at age 9. He was so exuberant he probably could have hosted the show himself. For us he plays a tricky piece on a single string of his cello by the 19th century violin hotshot Nicolò Paganini. The calm smiles on Renshaw’s face belie the difficulty of the music as he fingers wispy harmonics and leans into serious shredding. Violinist Laura Jin, a 12-year-old wunderkind attending the pre-college program at Juilliard, might be soft spoken, even shy, but she thrives on danger. Which is why she’s playing Wieniawski’s flamboyant Polonaise Op. 4. “I really enjoy this piece because it has many technical difficulties,” she explains before launching into a thicket of double stops, pizzicato and harmonics, offering a sterling tone and preserving the splendor and swagger of the piece. Rhyuhn Green, a sartorially resplendent 18-year-old from Philadelphia, lives

Published 2025-01-15 · Watch on YouTube ↗
Availability and playback restrictions are controlled by the original channel.