Elena Urioste makes her New York Philharmonic debut at Avery Fisher Hall on Saturday, October 15 in a Young People's Concert, under the baton of Joshua Weilerstein.  The theme of the concert is Four Greats: Johann Sebastian Bach.

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Elena Urioste joins a distinguished roster of musicians who have been awarded career grants by New York's Salon de Virtuosi.  She has also been selected to appear at the 2011 Salon de Virtuosi Gala on November 30 at the Sony Club, where she will perform with pianist Michael Brown in a concert that also features clarinetist Moran Katz and pianist Vladimir Feltsman.

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Latina Magazine celebrates its 15th anniversary in the October issue, which features Elena Urioste as one of the magazine's "Future Fifteen". The article describes her early passion for her instrument and includes a memorable photo of Elena with her first violin.  From that 1/16-sized instrument to the incomparable ex-Vieuxtemps Guarneri del Gesu with which she made her Chicago Symphony Orchestra debut... what a journey!  Enjoy the feature in Latina's October issue, available at newsstands now.

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Elena Urioste returns to the prestigious Marlboro Music Festival this summer to share in the celebrated music-making that has brought luminaries of the classical music world to Vermont for 60 years. As Marlboro celebrates the 60th anniversary of its founding, this summer's performances are sure to be very special, indeed.

Immediately following Marlboro, Elena joins a distinguished roster of musicians at the Lake Champlain Chamber Music Festival from August 21 through August 28. With violinist Soovin Kim at the helm as Artistic Director, this year's festival promises an exciting line-up of concerts and artists. For more information, visit http://www.lccmf.org/winter-encore-2011-musician.html

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Elena Urioste's Merkin Hall debut received a rave review in the New York Times.  Noting that her  "stunning performances as a violin soloist in the annual Carnegie Hall concerts by the Sphinx Organization...have been highlights of those programs in recent seasons", Allan Kozinn went on to say, "She proved an eloquent recitalist on Tuesday afternoon, when she played an inventive program with Michael Brown, pianist."

Urioste demonstrated her mastery of diverse musical styles, from her "spirited, playful account of Mozart's Rondo in C (K 373)" to her "ruminative, abidingly lyrical account of Fauré’s Sonata No. 1 (Op. 13)", her "driven reading of the darker Janacek Sonata [that] tapped the work’s intensity and emotional turbulence", the "sweetly singing Romance" of Amy Beach, and the "violinistic athleticism" of the Hubay Carmen Fantasy Brilliante.

Read the full review -- http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/07/arts/music/midori-performs-at-japannyc-reviewelena-urioste-violinist-at-merkin-hall-review.html

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Elena Urioste's sizzling performance of Astor Piazzolla's Four Seasons of Buenos Aires with the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra, Maximiano Valdes conducting, is available online for a limited time.  If you missed the sold out performance, this is your chance to hear what had audiences on their feet.

http://www.radiochopin.org/component/k2/item/965-tangos-and-tapas 

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Enjoy a taste of Elena Urioste's recent performance of the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto with the superb Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia under the baton of Maestro Dirk Brosse.  It will leave you wanting more...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W7UXr1LjE5Y

 

 

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Elena Urioste joins her teacher and mentor, legendary violinist Joseph Silverstein, in two performances this week as part of the El Paso Chamber Music Festival.  The pair will collaborate in Prokofiev's Sonata for Two Violins, and will be joined by members of the Harlem Quartet, festival director Zuill Bailey, and violist Stephanie Meyers for performances of Schoenberg's Verklarte Nacht (Transfigured Night) and Mendelssohn's String Octet in E-flat Major.  For more information, go to http://www.eppm.org/festival.sstg

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Veteran classical music critic Lawrence A. Johnson of the esteemed Chicago Classical Review lists Elena Urioste's performance of Ralph Vaughan Williams' The Lark Ascending with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Sir Mark Elder among the top 10 performances of 2010! 

http://chicagoclassicalreview.com/2010/12/the-top-10-performances-of-2010/

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Following her recent debut in Germany, Elena Urioste made a brief stop in London to perform at the Robertson Street Shelter as part of London Music Master's Bridges to the Community program.  The warm reception Elena received indoors far outweighed braving the UK's record cold temperatures to get there. 

As Robertson Street deputy manager Catherine Hahn noted, "Service users and staff were visibly moved by Elena's performance as shown by their silence whilst she played, massive applause after each piece and the queue to get her autograph afterwards... Service users have talked about the performance throughout the week, including John who said 'you could hear every word that she said with her violin'... Everyone commented on how special and beautiful Elena and her music were and how touched they were that she came 'all the way over here' to play."

It was Elena's pleasure, indeed!  Happy holidays to all at Robertson Street!!

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The fresh snow blanketing the lovely town of Wurzburg provided the perfect backdrop for the Violin Concerto of Jean Sibelius.  In her first German appearances, Elena Urioste dazzled audiences and critics alike in two recent performances of the late Romantic concerto with the Wurzburg Philharmonic, Anthony Bramall conducting.  Thunderous applause through four curtain calls each night brought Urioste back on stage for an enthusiastically received encore.

 

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The 2010/11 season has only just begun but from Bruch in Stockton to Brahms in Pensacola to Prokofiev at Carnegie Hall, Elena Urioste continues to garner praise and thrill audiences coast-to-coast.  Critics describe her distinct sound, carved deeply from her 304-year old Gagliano (Eric Grunder, Stockton Record), her unmatched passion and finesse (Peter Rubardt, Pensacola News Journal), and her sizzling account (with violinist Melissa White) of the Prokofiev Sonata for Two Solo Violins (Allan Kozinn, New York Times). 

Highlights of the upcoming season include a German debut with the Wurzburg Philharmonic; debuts with the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, the Puerto Rico Symphony, and the Chicago Sinfonietta; and return engagements with the San Antonio Symphony and the National Philharmonic, among others.

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Nicholas Yasillo, Director of the Norton Building Concert Series in Lockport, IL sent a congratulatory message after attending Elena Urioste's April 3, 2010 performance with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra --

"In April, I was able to attend one of Elena Urioste's The Lark Ascending performances with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra (Sir Mark Elder, conducting).  She played with perfect intonation and beautiful phrase shaping and looked totally relaxed and confident.  This was clearly a GREAT performance of a fantastic work for violin and orchestra and the audience knew it.  It would have been a very impressive performance by any seasoned violinist but considering her age, it was amazing.  I've been a CSO subscriber for decades, and also attend many, many chamber music performances each year so am fortunate to hear a lot of fine music.  I'm not easily impressed, but Elena's playing made me sit up and take notice."

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Elena Urioste's critically acclaimed April 2010 debut with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Sir Mark Elder is now airing on public radio stations across the country.  This performance represents not only Urioste's CSO debut but, remarkably, the orchestra's first performance in its 119-year history of Ralph Vaughan Williams' exquisite tone poem, The Lark Ascending.

http://cso.org/ListenAndWatch/Details.aspx?id=12256

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Elena Urioste joins the esteemed London Philharmonic this week for two BrightSparks concerts at Southbank Centre's Royal Festival Hall.  These exciting performances enable thousands of children to experience the thrill of live music, often for the first time in their lives. 

Introducing young audiences to classical music is an important part of Ms. Urioste's musical mission.  Having the opportunity to share this mission with the London Philharmonic caps a memorable 2009/2010 season that has included critically acclaimed debuts with the Chicago Symphony and Buffalo Philharmonic, among other notable highlights.

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What Elena Urioste dared to achieve in less than three weeks would have unnerved most seasoned artists. The 23-year old violinist made three orchestral debuts, performing seven concerts with dramatically different repertoire in just 18 days, the first of them on very short notice. All performances garnered rave reviews from the critics and standing ovations from audiences.

For her Richmond Symphony performance of the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto, Urioste jumped in with less than a week's notice to replace an ailing Tai Murray. Then it was on to Buffalo for two performances of the Glazunov Concerto with the Buffalo Philharmonic. Flying straight to Chicago for a triple performance of Vaughan Williams' The Lark Ascending, Urioste not only made her debut with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, but for two of her concerts performed on an extraordinary violin on generous loan from the Stradivari Society: the $18 million "Vieuxtemps" Guarneri del Gesu. Surprisingly, this was the first time the Vaughan Williams work had been performed by the CSO in its 119-year history.

Critics in all three cities were lavish with their praise:

"Urioste, 23, has a confident, straightforward sound to go with her outstanding technical skill. The first movement [of the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto] is so large and demanding, and Urioste played so magnificently, that the audience burst into lengthy applause at its end. This didn't prevent her from immersing herself in the music of the second movement, which she played like a mother's evening song.

The third movement, "Allegro vivacissimo," calls for ever-increasing tempos. Even at top speed, each of Urioste's notes was crisp and clear. Throughout, the symphony provided sensitive support.

With what must surely be a waxing musicality and strength, Urioste is poised for a successful career. Recordings, one hopes, are in her future, but if she visits Richmond in person again, don't miss her."

Angela Lehman-Rios, Richmond Times-Dispatch

"Urioste is a young artist with poise and a disarmingly direct manner. She swept out on stage in a beautiful gown and poured her heart into the lovely Glazunov. Her tone was rich, warm and confiding. The beautiful themes soared… She seemed to come at the music from beneath, bringing out its depths."

Mary Kunz Goldman, Buffalo News

"The Lark Ascending is a fragrant little nosegay of English pastoralism. The gifted young violinist Elena Urioste, in her Chicago Symphony Orchestra debut, charmed the audience with her lyrical sensitivity. For this performance she traded her Gagliano fiddle for the famed, $18 million, 1741 "Vieuxtemps" Guarneri del Gesu violin, on loan from Chicago's Stradivari Society. The sweet yet refined sound she drew from it was every violinist's dream come true."

John von Rhein, Chicago Tribune

"Remarkably, [Ralph Vaughan Williams’s The Lark Ascending] is receiving its first-ever CSO performances this week… If we had to wait this long, however, then it might as well have been to hear Elena Urioste, just 23, a Basque-Mexican-American and a Sphinx Competition double winner, in her CSO debut … A totally poised performer, Urioste also understands what it takes to play a piece marked by such humility. If anyone has played solo pianissimos at Orchestra Hall with the hypnotic delicacy that Urioste and her 1706 Gagliano offered, I must have been away. She already has a challenging and highly varied repertoire. Let's hear her again soon."

Andrew Patner, Chicago Sun-Times

"Most violinists would likely prefer to make their Chicago Symphony debut with a splashy concerto, but in its intimate fashion, Elena Urioste's performance of Vaughan Williams's gentle tone poem was as compelling as any Romantic barnburner.

From the hushed rustle of her opening bars, the 23-year-old violinist played with inward delicacy and expressive poise, her communicative performance aided by the sweet, penetrating sound of the $18 million "Vieuxtemps" Guarneri, on loan from the Stradivari Society for these concerts. In the closing cadenza, Urioste's barely audible fade into the distance could not have been more sensitively rendered, the young soloist winnowing her tone to a barely audible filigree. Urioste's poetic performance was aided by equally idiomatic and atmospheric support by Elder and the orchestra, particularly Daniel Gingrich's evocative horn solo."

Lawrence A. Johnson, Chicago Classical Review

Urioste's next performances have her traveling for return engagements with the Florida Orchestra, and then criss-crossing the Atlantic for debuts with the Delaware Symphony and the London Philharmonic.

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This charismatic new duo offers recital programs and double concertos guaranteed to delight audiences everywhere. Established soloists and chamber musicians, Urioste and Hernandez team up to explore the full violin-viola repertoire, from well-loved favorites to lesser known gems.

For more information and to inquire about bookings, contact Sciolino Artist Management, marianne@samnyc.us

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Thanks to the continued generosity of Dr. Charles King, Elena Urioste now has the use of a magnificent violin by Alessandro Gagliano, Naples, c. 1706 and a superb French bow by Pierre Simon, on loan to her through the Stradivari Society. Elena joins the ranks of esteemed past and current Stradivari Society recipients, which include Joshua Bell, Hillary Hahn, Gil Shahom, Soovin Kim, Ilya Kaler, and Kyoko Takezawa, among others.

Elena wishes to express her most sincere gratitude to Dr. King for the extraordinary support he has provided through the years, as well as to the Stradivari Society for enabling young artists to play instruments of such superior quality.

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Elena Urioste, New York Philharmonic principal cellist Carter Brey, and Christopher O'Riley, concert pianist and host of PRI's wildly popular From the Top, join forces on Sunday, January 10 in Westfield, NJ for two performances in the Mostly Music Concert Series. Program highlights include Dvorak's Dumky Trio.

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Southbank Centre, one of UK's most prestigious centres for the arts, is London Music Masters' newest Creative Partner, playing a key role in the mentoring programme as part of the LMM Awards.

LMM Artist Elena Urioste will work closely with a team of highly regarded individuals in the arts programming team based at Southbank Centre, shaping her individually crafted LMM Award with London Music Masters. Marshall Marcus, Head of Music; Gillian Moore, Head of Contemporary Culture; and Shân Maclennan, Creative Director of Learning and Participation will lead in mentoring Elena, who will receive invaluable career advice, performance opportunities, as well as the opportunity to work collaboratively with Resident and Associate Artists and as part of the venue's education and outreach activities.

Marshall Marcus said, "We are really pleased to be working as a Creative Partner with LMM. We share their commitment to nurture and develop highly talented emerging artists, and look forward with relish to working with Elena Urioste to develop her abilities as a world class violinist, musician, and twenty first century ambassador for the arts."

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One of three winners of the inaugural London Music Masters LMM Awards, Elena Urioste will make her UK debut at London's Wigmore Hall on October 20, 2009. The program will feature Schubert: Rondo Brilliante, Prokofiev: Violin Sonata No. 2 in f minor and Hubay: Carmen Fantasie

Created by renowned Russian-Israeli violin pedagogue Itzhak Rashkovsky, the LMM Awards support three exceptional violinists, between the ages of 18 and 28, over a three-year period. Assisting the long-term career development of the award holders is the driving principle of the LMM Awards, for which Rashkovsky has formulated a comprehensive program.

The LMM Awards involve a unique selection process. An international network of highly respected individuals, recognised for their music-related accomplishments, talents and directorships of prestigious music institutions worldwide, proposed an initial selection of candidates from which the Nominations Team choose three award winners.

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Stops on this year's historic tour inlude many prestigious locales in the Eastern United States and on the West Coast.

Eastern venues include Bowling Green State University (Bowling Green, OH), Tuesday Musical Association (Akron, OH), the August Wilson Center for African American Culture (Pittsburgh, PA), Oberlin College (Oberlin, OH), Bridgewater College (Bridgewater, VA), the Porter Center (Brevard, NC), North Carolina A&T State University (Greensboro, NC), Eastman School of Music (Rochester, NY), Old Dominion University (Norfolk, VA), and Carnegie Hall (New York, NY).

West Coast stops include University of Carlifornia at Chico (Chico, CA) and Cerritos Center (Cerritos, CA).

This year's conductor is Damon Gupton, assistant conductor of the Kansas City Symphony; the program includes works by Mozart, Astor Piazzolla, Guido Gavilán, Tchaikovsky, Wynton Marsalis, Vivaldi and Michael Abels. Elena Urioste will play a prominent role in each performance.

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Elena Urioste will perform Mendelssohn's Concerto in E minor this summer with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. This will be her third performance with the ASO and will take place at the Verizon Amphitheatre at Encore Park with young up-and-coming conductor, Ilyich Rivas at the podium.

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Featured on the cover of Symphony magazine as an emerging artist to watch, violinist Elena Urioste is featured here on her debut recording. With pianist Hugh Sung, Urioste presents a recital of works showcasing her artistic range. Music from different centuries and different countries weaves from lyrical beauty and subtle colors to soaring emotion and dazzling passage work. Sonatas by Beethoven and Janacek anchor the disc, with Hubay's virtuosic, rarely performed Carmen Fantasy and a jewel by Engel completing the selections. Find out why this young star has been described by The New York Times as "passionate" and "virtuosic"!

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