Uploaded June 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Meet From the Top Fellow Alexander McDowell (violin)! Violinist/disability activist Julia LaGrand brings us inside From the Top’s Musicians with Disabilities Initiative. Enjoy this behind-the-scenes look at the recording of From the Top’s 2026 Musicians with Disabilities broadcast and related performance and panel event.
Julia, along with From the Top host Peter Dugan, meets four young musicians who share incredible performances and speak candidly about their journeys as musicians navigating disability.
Featured young artists include:
19-year-old violinist Alexander McDowell from Durham, North Carolina
18-year-old composer Kiefer Bernard from Montclair, New Jersey
22-year-old French Horn player Macy James from Kalamazoo, Michigan
14-year-old percussionist Zion Giles from Chicago, Illinois
From the Top’s Musicians with Disabilities Initiative was launched in 2023 to increase inclusivity and transparency for musicians with disabilities. Central to this work is From the Top alumna and violinist Julia LaGrand, 21, who first brought this vision to the organization after sharing her story as a blind musician on the program in 2021. Julia serves as co-host, content advisor, and associate producer at From the Top.
Learn more about From the Top’s Musicians with Disabilities Initiative at fromthetop.org/MWD
Produced with Vanishing Angle.
SPECIAL THANKS
Access/VSA, A Jean Kennedy Smith Arts and Disability Program
Berklee College of Music
GBH
Think Outside the Vox
THANK YOU TO THE GENEROSITY OF:
Jack Kent Cooke Foundation
Howard and Geraldine Polinger Family Foundation
The Volgenau Foundation
National Endowment for the Arts
Mass Cultural Council
The Hamilton Company Charitable Foundation
& the many individuals who support From the Top
Meet From the Top Fellow Alexander McDowell (violin)! Violinist/disability activist Julia LaGrand brings us inside From the Top’s Musicians with Disabilities Initiative. Enjoy this behind-the-scenes look at the recording of From the Top’s 2026 Musicians with Disabilities broadcast and related performance and panel event.
Julia, along with From the Top host Peter Dugan, meets four young musicians who share incredible performances and speak candidly about their journeys as musicians navigating disability.
Featured young artists include:
19-year-old violinist Alexander McDowell from Durham, North Carolina
18-year-old composer Kiefer Bernard from Montclair, New Jersey
22-year-old French Horn player Macy James from Kalamazoo, Michigan
14-year-old percussionist Zion Giles from Chicago, Illinois
From the Top’s Musicians with Disabilities Initiative was launched in 2023 to increase inclusivity and transparency for musicians with disabilities. Central to this work is From the Top alumna and violinist Julia LaGrand, 21, who first brought this vision to the organization after sharing her story as a blind musician on the program in 2021. Julia serves as co-host, content advisor, and associate producer at From the Top.
Learn more about From the Top’s Musicians with Disabilities Initiative at fromthetop.org/MWD
Produced with Vanishing Angle.
SPECIAL THANKS
Access/VSA, A Jean Kennedy Smith Arts and Disability Program
Berklee College of Music
GBH
Think Outside the Vox
THANK YOU TO THE GENEROSITY OF:
Jack Kent Cooke Foundation
Howard and Geraldine Polinger Family Foundation
The Volgenau Foundation
National Endowment for the Arts
Mass Cultural Council
The Hamilton Company Charitable Foundation
& the many individuals who support From the Top
