Solly Burton To Appear on NPR's From The Top

By Mandolin Cafe
June 3, 2009 - 9:30 am

From The Top

Cedar Rapids, Ia. — 17-year old mandolin player Solly Burton will appear on an upcoming episode of From the Top, the hit public radio program featuring America’s best young classical musicians and hosted by acclaimed pianist Christopher O'Riley. From the Top is heard on more than 200 stations nationwide and taped before live audiences around the country. Broadcast from Coe College's Sinclair Auditorium in Cedar Rapids, IA, the show airs nationally the week of June 15, 2009.

Solly lives on a farm in Sullivan, Indiana where he helps his dad with the hogs and grain farming and raises exotic poultry, the progress of which he monitors from his bedroom with a surveillance camera. Well known within the mandolin community, bands call him when they need a player and he performs at many bluegrass festivals, private parties, and churches. Solly was the recent winner of the National Mandolin Championship in Winfield, Kansas and has recorded a CD with his mentor Joel Whittinghill.

On the broadcast, Solly performs Vittorio Monti's Czardas, with Joel Whittinghill on guitar. The show also includes a segment with Solly recorded at the Burton family farm. Also included on the broadcast is a 15-year-old harpist from Iowa City, IA, a 19-year-old cellist from Tenafly, NJ, an 18-year-old bass vocalist from Cedar Falls, IA, and a Chicagoland string quartet. The episode was recorded before a live audience on May 19, 2009 and will be available online at www.fromthetop.org after the broadcast.

From the Top is a non-profit organization that celebrates the passion, dedication, and personal stories of the nation’s outstanding young classical musicians. Through entertaining public radio and PBS television broadcasts, online media, and a national tour of live events and outreach programs, these performers inspire the pursuit of excellence, and encourage participation in the arts as an integral part of a vibrant and civil society. From the Top’s training and mentorship programs prepare young musicians to connect with new audiences, serve as positive peer role models, and give back to their communities.

From the Top is made possible through grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation. It is also supported through the generous contributions of individuals and foundations as well as public radio stations.