Does the discipline and dedication required to serve in our nation’s armed forces have anything in common with the discipline and dedication required to become a skilled classical musician? All of the kids on today’s show would say, "Yes." This week, From the Top is in Grapevine, Texas, where we'll showcase talented young musicians who've grown up in America's proud military families. The show was taped in collaboration with the Military Child Education Coalition.

This week From the Top comes to you from Hodgson Concert Hall on the campus of the University of Georgia in Athens, where you'll hear a young guitarist from New York evoke the palace of Alhambra and an outstanding piano trio from Minnesota play the music of Smetana. Also, a teenage cellist beautifully performs Maurice Ravel's "Kaddish."

This week's "Uncommon Combos Highlights Show" features teenage chamber music groups that are extraordinary not only for their musicianship, but also for their unusual instrumentation or repertoire. A trio of percussionists who share one marimba, a bassoon sextet, and a flute choir are among the uncommon combos in this celebration of the world of great teen chamber music beyond the string quartet.

Gunther Schuller, the great American composer, conductor, author, music educator, jazz innovator and French horn player is the special guest artist on From the Top this week. You'll hear some of his favorite From the Top moments, he’ll share stories of his multiple lives in music and host Christopher O’Riley presents a world premiere of his work with three young musicians.

This week, From the Top is at the Mesa Arts Center in Mesa, Ariz., where you'll hear a 15-year-old violinist play a piece by Zoltán Kodály and a 14-year-old pianist play Prokofiev. Also, you'll enjoy a setting of a poem by Walt Whitman composed by a 17-year-old and performed by the Phoenix Children’s Chorus.

What do young musicians who come from the edge of the Amazon rain forest, the sophisticated big city of Bogotá and the villages and towns in-between have in common? An incredible music education system and one of the top youth orchestras in the Americas. This week, From the Top comes to you from the Teatro Mayor Julio Mario Santo Domingo in Bogotá, Colombia, where you’ll hear performances by the Colombian Youth Philharmonic and one of the nation's flagship Orff ensembles.