Christopher O'Riley. Acclaimed for his engaging and deeply committed performances, the pianist O’Riley was known to millions as the host of NPR’s From the Top where he introduced the next generation of classical-music stars to almost a million listeners each week.  He performs around the world and has garnered widespread praise for his untiring efforts to reach new audiences.

 

O’Riley also hosted the Emmy Award-winning television series From the Top at 

Carnegie Hall, and has collaborated with Yo-Yo Ma, Bobby McFerrin, Midori, Béla 

Fleck, Joshua Bell, Hilary Hahn, Sir James Galway, Michael Feinstein, and many more.

 

Living by the Duke Ellington adage “There are only two kinds of music, good music 

and bad,” O’Riley – a proponent of the former in all of its guises – has received the 

prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant and an equally coveted four-star review from 

Rolling Stone magazine.

 

O'Riley studied with Russell Sherman at the New England Conservatory of Music, 

and splits his time between Los Angeles and Ohio.