Christopher O’Riley doesn’t think he’d have made the cut to appear on "From the
Top," the National Public Radio program he now hosts.
For 12 years, the weekly program has showcased top young classical music performers.
Even though O’Riley started studying piano at age 4, he said in a recent
telephone interview that he spent too much time watching TV to have been good
enough to cast on the show.
What impresses O’Riley is "the degree to which these kids are dedicated not only
to music but with everything they’re involved in."
O’Riley will be visiting Bowing Green State University this week, both to perform a
Festival Series concert Saturday at 8 p.m. as well as giving master classes in
conjunction with the David D. Dubois Piano Competition. He’ll also serve as a
guest judge for the competition’s finals on Sunday.
The competition is now in its second year. It attracted a stronger field than last
year, said Dr. Laura Melton, the music faculty member coordinating the event.
The field is expected to include about 20 finalists from the Midwest as well as
Washington, D.C., California and China. The competition offers a top prize of
$3,000.
"From the Top," O’Riley said gives some needed recognition to young
musicians, 8 to 18 years old. "Classical music has not been attended to
with the kind of attention that athletic or even spelling bees have."
Yet he has found there’s a depth of talent of performers from ages 8 through 18. In
the early years, people wondered if they’d run out of prodigies once they’d gone
through Interlochen and Juilliard Prep.
But from the beginning they received submissions from throughout the country. It was
a testament to the dedication to those teachers giving "first rate"
instruction on all instruments.
The effort put in by musicians is extreme, practicing hours a day. And they often
have a broad range of interests, which they address with similar devotion.
At first the performers on "From the Top" came from a variety of genres,
but given the majority of stations carrying the show were dedicated to classical
programming, the focus shifted to exclusively classical performers.
Still O’Riley added his own genre-bending tendencies to the show. Long a devotee of
the music of Radiohead, he started playing his arrangements of their songs as
interludes. Some older listeners requested more selections from this composer
"Mr. Head."
This has become an important part of his repertoire, as well as arrangements of other
popular material including the music of Bernard Herrmann, the composer most
famous for his scores for Alfred Hitchcock movies.
At BGSU he will perform music from the film "Psycho" as well as
arrangements by Franz Liszt of pieces from Mozart’s "Don Giovanni" and
songs by Wagner.
His most recent recording "Shuffle," duets with cellist Matt Haimovitz,
incudes selections from Herman’s "Vertigo" score as well as pieces by
Leo Janacek and Igor Stravinsky and arrangements of music by Radiohead, Arcade
Fire, Cocteau Twins and jazz fusion guitarist John McLaughlin.
O’Riley said this expansion of the repertoire is not a matter of trying to broaden
his audience. He believes in this music. "It transcends market
pressures."
Ultimately it’s up to the listener. "An audience listens to and decides in their
ear and heart whether it is something they what to listen to."
"These arrangements are all consuming," he said.
In tracking a piece by Radiohead, or songwriter Elliott Smith, another favorite, he
seeks the element that grabs him, "the harmony that makes my hair stand on
end."
"It’s a matter of finding a bass part or guitar line," something that
"leads me through" the song O’Riley said.
O’Riley is just following his credo: "Follow your heart."
"It is important you bring music you believe in," he said. "The more
it fits in with your own personality, the more chance you have to make your own
stake. In this market the personality of the artist is paramount."
O’Riley in residence
Pianist and radio show host Christopher O’Riley will visit the BGSU campus next week
for the David D. Dubois Festival and Piano Competition and to perform a Festival
Series concert.
On Friday he will give a master class with BGSU students from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. in
Bryan Recital Hall.
On Saturday he will perform a Festival Series concert at 8 p.m. in Kobacker Hall.
Tickets are $12 to $30. Call (419) 372-8171
On Sunday he will be guest judge at the competition’s final round at 1 p.m. in
Kobacker Hall.