On Deck with Young Musicians
As of March 2025, On Deck with Young Musicians is no longer producing new episodes. This program featured inspirational interviews that celebrate and showcase the incredibly talented young musicians who live and perform in the Pacific Northwest: the young people who are shaping the future of classical music. The archive below features episodes hosted by Christa Wessel, Adam Eccleston, Raúl Gómez-Rojas, Jahlysa Azaret, and Lisa Lipton.
August 16, 2014
On Deck with Sylvia Romero
In this episode of “On Deck” we’ll meet the youngest musician to have been featured on the show: 11-year-old Sylvia Romero. (Just because she’s young doesn’t mean she’s quiet and shy, though – Sylvia is hilarious and is always performing.) Incredibly passionate about ALL the arts, Sylvia is studying opera with Hannah Penn and ballet …
August 9, 2014
On Deck with Olivia Langley
Olivia Langley is an 18-year old oboist and singer, who also studies epigenetics and loves Marvel comic books. In this episode of On Deck we’ll meet Olivia and hear what it was like for her to have been thrust into the spotlight as an English horn soloist for Dvorak’s “New World” Symphony earlier this year. …
August 2, 2014
On Deck with Geetha Somayajula
Geetha Somayajula just graduated from Westview High School and is headed to USC’s Thornton School of Music in the Fall to pursue choral music. Her musical journey began at the age of 7, though, when she started singing Indian classical music. Meet the ambitious, multi-faceted Geetha Somayajula in this episode of On Deck with Young …
July 26, 2014
On Deck with Jimmy Brown
18-year-old Jimmy Brown just graduated from Reynolds High School, and just aged out of the Portland Youth Philharmonic –where he played viola- and the Pacific Youth Choir –where he sang baritone. In this episode of On Deck we’ll talk to Jimmy about what’s next for him: attending the University of Oregon this Fall to study …
July 5, 2014
On Deck at Bravo Youth Orchestras
Bravo Youth Orchestras is an organization which this year implemented the “El Sistema” method of music education in North Portland. For the past school year, Bravo has been in action at one of the city’s poorest elementary schools, and in this episode of “On Deck” we’ll listen in to the progress these young kids have …
June 28, 2014
On Deck with Maeve Nagel-Frazel
14-year-old violinist Maeve Nagel-Frazel just completed her final year at Sunnyside Environmental School – a “K-through-8” school which requires all graduating 8th graders to write and deliver a speech which explores a topic they care deeply about. Maeve chose to speak about her love of classical music. In this episode we’ll hear her read this …
June 21, 2014
On Deck with Nathan Kim
14-year-old pianist Nathan Kim recently performed solo in Carnegie Hall. We’ll ask him about that experience, and hear the piece he played: Liszt’s Hungarian Rhapsody No. 15. Nathan is very methodical, loves math, and is also really into Sherlock Holmes. You can read more about Nathan at Oregon Music News and The Newberg Graphic.
June 14, 2014
On Deck with Forrest Palamountain
Forrest is 18, and is just graduating from high school. He will be attending Northwestern University in the fall to double-major in violin and “Mid-East, North African Studies.” Forrest is very interested in politics (which he discusses at length in this episode), and he’s even toying with the idea of a future political career. Music …
May 31, 2014
On Deck with Maia Hoffman
At just 17, Maia Hoffman already has an impressive list of accomplishments to her name: she is co-principal of the viola section in the Portland Youth Philharmonic, and this summer she won the honor of attending the prestigious Heifetz International Music Institute. She was also accepted into this summer’s Viola Institute at Interlochen. Over the …
May 24, 2014
On Deck with Cammie Lee
Cammie Lee is a 13-year-old 8th grader, and is the Symphony Orchestra’s concertmaster at MYS. She will be performing Bruch’s Violin Concerto No. 1 with the Metropolitan Youth Symphony on June 7. In this episode of On Deck we’ll hear how Cammie deals with the nervousness that accompanies such a big performance, and we’ll also …
