Oct. 15, 2008 - Pianist Allen Yu, a Shaker High School junior, has been chosen from among a nationwide applicant pool to perform on National Public Radio’s “From the Top.”

Allen is also scheduled to perform with the Schenectady Symphony Orchestra at Proctors Theatre in Schenectady, Sunday, Oct. 19 at 3 p.m. He will be the featured soloist and will perform Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 23 in A Major.

Allen's appearance on "From the Top" is part of the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation Young Artist Award he received recently. The award, which is given each year to just 25 students nationwide, also includes a $10,000 scholarship to support his education and artistic development, including tuition, training, or equipment.

"From the Top" showcases America's top young classical musicians, and is distributed by NPR to more than 200 stations and reaches reaches nearly 750,000 listeners each week. Allen traveled to Boston earlier this month to play in front of a live audience, and the performance will broadcast on WMHT in January.

This is an exceptional accomplishment and indicative of Allen’s remarkable talents.