Christopher O'Riley 
Awarded 2006 Karl Haas Prize for Music Education

The 2006 Karl Haas Prize for Music Education has been awarded to Christopher O'Riley, host of From the Top, nationally distributed by Public Radio International since its inception in 2000 and heard on more than 250 stations. From the Top is both a popular classical music program and an educationally signficant one, uniquely conceived to address the need to promote the classical music activities of younger generations and inspire youngsters.











O'Riley's easy and genuine charm as host of the show accomplishes the producers' goals of relating to the young performers while allowing the show to remain entertaining and relevant to the adult listener. There is simply no other show like From the Top: it is a class act that aspires to promote the joy of music making and inspires music makers both young and old.

The award's namesake, the late Karl Haas, received the first Fine Arts Radio International Awards Lifetime Achievement honor in 2000.

For further details about the show, visit the From the Top website. From the Top is on PBS TV, too.

Text of the 2006 Karl Haas Prize Recipient's Letter:

14 February 2006

Christopher O'Riley
Boston, MA 02115

Dear Christopher:

The Klassix Society/Friends of 88.7KXMS recently picked you as its 2006 honoree for the Karl Haas Prize for Music Education. The award, as you may know, is named after the late venerated broadcaster Karl Haas, producer/host of Adventures in Good Music. Karl’s 40-year career in educating a world-wide radio audience in the joys of classical music stands as a benchmark in the history of radio. We believe your accomplishments to date in association with From the Top similarly exemplify commitment to music education, creative ingenuity, and overall excellence of execution.

From the Top, as evidenced by its weekly audience levels and wide national distribution, has become accepted by commercial and noncommercial broadcasters as an effective platform for reaching a younger audience hungry in their excitement about music and their delight in communing with others –young and old– with shared interests. The program series also serves another significant function: to grow new audience for America’s concert halls, music studios, and classical radio stations.

Your deft handling as the interface between those who thoughtfully produce the program and the young artists who visit and perform for an appreciative national audience shows a rare finesse. The key to your success with From the Top, we believe, is not that you are a weekly visitor to the world of youngsters making music, but rather that you too are a young voyager in the musical universe and you travel the same roads with a palpable joy of exploration.

For these varied reasons, the Klassix Society wishes to show its appreciation to you for your contributions to music education in the name of a fellow radio broadcaster who until recently long traveled the same paths.

On Behalf of the Klassix Society,

Jeffrey D. Skibbe
88.7KXMS / Fine Arts Radio International