Christopher O'Riley at UC-Irvine

A couple of weeks ago, Out Of My Hands artist, Christopher O'Riley hosted his NPR Program "From the Top" at the University of California - Irvine. Like he usually does during "From the Top" Mr. O'Riley features young musicians, and also plays some music himself. Today we came across a fantastic review of the UC-Irvine event that we just couldn't help but share:

From "Music by Anne-Marie Lynne":

Orange County Register

Pianist Christopher O’Riley’s “From the Top,” the most popular classical music radio show on the air today, is all about breaking the icy ritual of classical performance. Its formula is simple. Find talented young performers, chit-chat with them a bit, then let them play. It overturns the old Victorian admonition; here, children (and young adults) are seen and heard.

O’Riley brought the format, if not the broadcast, to Irvine Barclay Theatre Friday night as part of the venue’s 20th anniversary celebrations. In this iteration, he collaborated with music students from the University of California, Irvine. It all went smoothly, the performances, too, and the audience lapped it up.

The pre-performance interviews are crucial to the show’s success. O’Riley is a calm and composed interviewer, wry at times but never trying too hard. The goal is nothing more than to generate a little small talk and put the performers (and audience) at ease. To the three colorfully gowned, carefully coiffed young women who were his first guests he asked, “Who’s getting married?,” got a laugh, and we were off. We learned, for instance, that cellist Anne-Marie Alexander also studied criminology in addition to music, and enjoyed working on cars. The interviews are rather like Alex Trebek’s contestant interviews on “Jeopardy,” in fact, with the same humanizing result. “Musicians are real people too” is the message...continued on "Music by Anne-Marie Lynne"

We strongly encourage you to read the article in its entirety as the author goes into detail about Mr. O'Riley's performances and includes wonderful reactions from the young artists themselves.