PRESS RELEASE
Seventeen-year-old Reno violinist Oliver Leitner will appear on an upcoming episode of From the Top, the hit NPR radio program featuring America’s best young classical musicians and hosted by acclaimed pianist Christopher O’Riley.
The show will air locally on 89.5 KNCJ and 88.7 KUNR at 7 p.m. November 28, and again on 89.5 KNCJ at 7 p.m. on December 3, 2017. The show will air nationally the week of November 27. From the Top is also available for streaming and podcast at fromthetop.org.
The episode was taped before a live audience at the Pioneer Center for the Performing Arts on September 10, 2017, in partnership between the Reno Phil and KNCJ/KUNR.
Oliver is a senior at the Davidson Academy of Nevada. For the past two summers, Oliver has attended the Academy for Gifted Students at Freiburg Conservatory in Germany as a student of Professor Simone Zgraggen.
He is a two-time grand prize winner of the Reno Phil Youth Orchestra Concerto Competition, and is a member of the Reno Chamber Orchestra and the Artemisia Chamber Ensemble. Outside of the violin, Oliver placed fourth in his category at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) for a project on renewable energy, and enjoys skiing, running, and playing tennis.
On the broadcast, Oliver performs I. Allegro assai from the Sonata for Violin and Piano No. 8, Op. 30, No. 3 by Ludwig van Beethoven and III. Perpetuum mobile. Allegro from Violin Sonata No. 2 by Maurice Ravel with Christopher O’Riley, piano.
Also featured:
Sixteen-year-old marimba player Griffin Miller from Palm Beach Gardens, Florida performing “Scirocco” by Michael Burritt; 15-year-old pianist Nita Qiu, from Woodbury, Minnesota performing I. Allegro marcato from Piano Sonata No. 1, Op. 22 by Alberto Ginastera; 17-year-old flute player Lindsey Wong, from Cincinnati, Ohio performing Fantaisie for Flute and Piano by Philippe Gaubert, with Christopher O’Riley, piano; and Quartet Bellazza, from the Chicago-area, the Junior Division Gold Medal winners at the 2017 Fischoff Competition, performing V. Allegro molto from String Quartet No. 4, Sz. 91 by Béla Bartók.
