The young soloist [Elena] Urioste [with the Richmond Symphony, Steven Smith conducting] brought drama in spades to Brahms' Concerto in D Major for violin and orchestra — a brilliant yet curiously conversational concerto in which the orchestra and violin embroider upon Brahms' lush melodies in turn... Urioste's sense of wonder, as if the drama of the piece were unfolding before her, carried the day.

The orchestra [Chicago Sinfonietta, Mei-Ann Chen conducting] seemed to reach a point of full engagement with the fantastically charming An American Concerto by Gwyneth Walker presented with violin soloist Elena Urioste. Incorporating folk, jazz, and swing elements, the concerto requires a balance between showmanship and restraint in order to avoid becoming a caricature of its stylistic components. The ensemble delivered beautifully, and Ms. Urioste imbued her performance with a sleek flare, a sense of humor, and gorgeous lyric warmth throughout.

[Gwyneth] Walker's "An American Concerto" (1995) employed rock, folk and jazz idioms as guest violinst Elena Urioste soloed with great style in the three-movement whirlwind.

This [Gwyneth Walker's "An American Concerto"] amiable, neatly crafted fusion of rock rhythms, folk melody and jazz riffs went down easily, thanks to the sleek virtuosity of the terrific young violin soloist, Elena Urioste [with the Chicago Sinfonietta, Mei-Ann Chen conducting].

Violinist Elena Urioste, who made a memorable debut with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra last year, was the soloist in Gwyneth Walker's "An American Concerto" (1995)... Urioste delivered a stylish and tasteful performance.

Elena Urioste's stunning performances as a violin soloist in the annual Carnegie Hall concerts by the Sphinx Organization — an educational foundation that offers classical music training to minority students — have been highlights of those programs in recent seasons. A winner of Sphinx’s competitions in 2003 and 2007, Ms. Urioste studied at the Curtis Institute and the Juilliard School, and is building an impressive mature career.

She proved an eloquent recitalist on Tuesday afternoon, when she played an inventive program with Michael Brown, a pianist, at Merkin Concert Hall.

Ms. Urioste’s spirited, playful account of Mozart’s Rondo in C (K. 373) quickly established some of the attractions of her sound and her interpretive personality. Chief among them are a thoughtful approach to dynamics and the kind of clearly defined articulation that emphasizes a score’s essential energy.

Very different qualities illuminated her ruminative, abidingly lyrical account of Fauré’s Sonata No. 1 (Op. 13). And Ms. Urioste’s driven reading of the darker Janacek Sonata tapped the work’s intensity and emotional turbulence, particularly in its powerful Adagio. She found other qualities in the piece as well: her shapely, nuanced account of the Ballada drew on some of the tonal opulence that made her Carnegie Hall appearances so appealing.

Ms. Urioste closed her program with Amy Beach’s sweetly singing Romance, and Hubay’s “Carmen Fantasy Brilliante,” a dazzler that begins by focusing on the drama of that Bizet opera, but quickly morphs into violinistic athleticism. Ms. Urioste, fully up to its challenges, was at her best in the speedy passagework that Hubay wove around the “Toreador Song,” presented straightforwardly in the piano part.

Watching an emerging soloist burn up the stage in the most standard of repertoire is more than just a momentary thrill -- it's something that reminds you how renewable classical music should always be.  And what took Elena Urioste's performance of the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto a step beyond that Sunday with the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia was the kind of collaboration you can't count on with busier musicians on a subscription treadmill. 

As [Elena] Urioste noted in her remarks, soloists must find the right balance between Romantic emotion and classical form when they play the Mendelssohn concerto; they must be "passionate but elegant."

Urioste produced an exceptionally intense, high-voltage first movement without violating her ideals and followed it with a slow movement that added dark weightiness to the sweetness and poetry of Mendelssohn's score.  Conductor Dirk Brosse and the orchestra [The Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia] gave her the kind of support that surrounds the soloist with a meaningful context and makes you aware of significant details, like the cheery little comments from the woodwinds in the finale.

It's a wonder the El Paso Museum of Art didn't have to call out the fire department at El Paso Pro Musica's Bach's Lunch on January 20.  The fiery fiddling of 24-year old beauty Elena Urioste was hot stuff, and torrid cellist and artistic director Zuill Bailey was on hand to perform and talk up the program.  ... Urioste, a knockout to look at as well as to hear, made the incendiary Sonata No. 3 in D Minor by Eugene Ysaye an instant favorite.

[Joseph] Silverstein, star performer of this year's chamber fest, shared his virtuosity Saturday...with a bevy of bright younger musicians.  He and former pupil Urioste offered a sparkling performance of works by two modern, 20th century composers, Sergei Prokofiev and Arnold Schoenberg.  They opened the concert with a skillful reading of Prokofiev's Sonata for Two Violins in C Major.  As the almost 79 year old master violinist and 24 year old Urioste sailed through the melodic andante cantabile, saucy allegro, sensitive comodo and seamless allegro con brio, they displayed an innate grasp of togetherness.

A shining example of outstanding talent joined Silverstein and Urioste -- violists Juan-Miguel Hernandez and Stephanie Meyers, plus cellists [Paul Wianko] and Zuill Bailey -- in a powerful reading of Arnold Schoenberg's Transfigured Night.  To complete the unique program, Silverstein added his impeccable violin technique to the above listed musicians, plus violinists Ilmar Gavilan and Melissa White, in a dazzling rendition of the String Octet in E-flat Major by Felix Mendelssohn.  It prompted a standing ovation.

Last Thursday, more than 200 music lovers came to hear violinist Elena Urioste, cellist Zuill Bailey, and pianist Ben Loeb perform; imagine the smiles when Bailey, Pro Musica's artistic director, announced that violinist Joseph Silverstein would join this illustrious group -- a big bonus for music lovers at the museum.

Urioste, a stunning young woman, played the technically demanding Violin Sonata No. 3 in D Minor by Eugene Ysaye, who wrote six violin sonatas, each dedicated to to a famous violinist.  This one-movement sonata, dedicated to Romanian George Enescu, is a bravado work and Urioste provided the impressive gypsy-like flourishes.

For dessert, Bailey and Urioste performed the Handel-Halvorsen Passacaglia.  The work, based on the last movement from Handel's Harpsichord Suite, was originally arranged for violin and viola by Halvorsen.  The violin and cello arrangement was a delicious conclusion to the noontime concert.

The center of the performance, however, was the [24] year old violinist, Elena Urioste, who played on a violin made by Alessandro Gagliano in 1706.  Despite her youth, she was able to please the audience [in the Sibelius Violin Concerto with the Wurzburg Philharmonic, Anthony Bramall conducting] with her highly expressive stage presence, her cool, elegant style, and her rich tone.  Her beguilingly played "Estrellita" encore resonated long into the ensuing intermission.

The star of the evening was the [24] year old Elena Urioste.  The manner in which the violinist presented the famous Violin Concerto by Jean Sibelius [with the Wurzburg Philharmonic, Anthony Bramall conducting]  was simply first rate.  She played one of the most popular pieces by the Finnish national composer with sensitivity and alertness in the first and third movements and melodious sensitivity in the middle one.  The [American] virtuoso savored the rich sound quality of the excellent instrument on which she intrepreted this piece from the late Romantic period.

Urioste used the wam tone of the instrument crafted by Alessandro Gagliano in 1706, illuminated especially in the Adagio, most notably in passages relying on the G string.  The young virtuoso also proved that she can also play in a different style: she presented the most hair-raising passages in the first and last movements nearly perfectly.  A delightfully heartwarming plus was the lovely appearance of this outstanding soloist.

Violin star Elena Urioste appeared for a lovingly rendered take on Alexander Glazunov’s little known but charming Violin Concerto...  Urioste, with a ripe tone and wonderful technique, poured out all of the open emotion in the single-movement concerto.

Urioste and [Maestro Carlos Miguel] Prieto recently paired with each other, with another orchestra, for the Glazunov concerto. Their timing and coordination was excellent.

Elena Urioste and Melissa White, two superb violinists whose performances were also highlights of last year’s concert, returned to collaborate on a sizzling, acidic account of Prokofiev’s Sonata for Two Solo Violins (Op. 56).

There are very few pieces that fully capture all the nuances of a multi-soloist concerto, and certainly at the top of the list is the "Double Concerto for Violin and Cello" by Johannes Brahms. It is a late work, the last orchestral piece that he wrote. The music conveys a world of elegance, power and refined emotion; it is vintage Brahms at his best.

Violinist Elena Urioste and cellist Nicholas Canellakis bring un-matched passion and finesse to their playing, and they make a perfect pair for this unusual and exalted piece. And it doesn't hurt that they would both look at home on a magazine cover.

Max Bruch's 1st Violin Concerto [was] the heart and soul of the evening's performance.  The young soloist, Elena Urioste, said during pre-concert remarks that she is getting to know the 304-year old Gagliano loaned to her only months ago.  But Urioste said she's already discovered it's an instrument "you can really dig into and carve out the sound."  She carved it deeply Thursday night and rendered a sound so distinct that even on the rare points in the Bruch when the orchestra seemed on the verge of overwhelming her, the Gagliano won out.  Only 24, Urioste played with emotional maturity and technical skill, avoiding the urge to let stage antics detract from her instrument or the wonderful sound she carved so deeply from it.

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.

Remarkably, [Ralph Vaughan Williams' The Lark Ascending] is receiving its first-ever Chicago Symphony Orchestra performances this week... If we had to wait this long, however, then it might as well have been to hear Elena Urioste, just 23, 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 offered, I must have been away. She already has a challenging and highly varied repertoire. Let's hear her again soon.

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' 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.

Two guest artists are at Keinhans Music Hall this weekend, glamorous young violinist Elena Urioste and guest conductor Christopher Wilkins. Both are bright, engaging and passionate... Urioste is a young artist with poise and a disarmingly direct manner... She poured her heart into the lovely Glazunov [Violin Concerto]. Her tone was rich, warm and confiding. The beautiful themes soared.

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... Even at top speed, each of Urioste's notes [in the third movement] was crisp and clear. With what must surely be a waxing musicality and strength, Urioste is poised for a successful career.

Elena Urioste makes a striking figure on stage and even more so with her rich tone and thoughtful, lyrical performance of this dramatic score [Samuel Barber's Violin Concerto, Op. 14].

Elena Urioste...is an artist whose career is on the rise. She played with a charismatic naturalness, and articulated the sense of spontaneity and gentle humor in this music [Mozart's Violin Concerto #5]... She also wrote her own cadenzas, spinning ideas together that were separated in Mozart's complex circuitry.

...violinist Elena Urioste... offered a passionate, virtuosic rendition of the 'Ballade,' Ysaÿe's Sonata No. 3 for solo violin.

Urioste sent a husky, warm sound spinning through the historic hall in a virtuosic performance [of Piazzolla's 'Winter in Buenos Aires'].

At times Urioste seemed to be channeling the great David Oistrakh as she gave an extremely emotional performance of the demanding [Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto]. Her deep, lush sound; her clean passage work with each note an individual, sparkling drop; her confidence and delicacy all point to a great artist at the beginning of what should be a successful career.

The final offering was the guest appearance of a brilliant up-and-coming violinist, Elena Urioste, who dazzled the audience with a luminous and exciting rendition of Tschaikovsky's Violin Concerto in D Major...Urioste's musical identification with the composer's intention was breathless. Furious tempos and two extended solo cadenzas were flawlessly executed, and the seamless communication between soloist and orchestra was exquisite.

'Carmen Fantasy'...was played with virtuoso flair by violinist Elena Urioste.

"Elena Urioste gave a richly toned, passionate account of the solo violin part in Leonid Desyatnikov's orchestral arrangement of the sultry 'Invierno Porteño' from Piazzolla's 'Cuatro Estaciones Porteñas.'

[Elena] was sultry-sweet razzle-dazzle in Franz Waxman's 'Carmen Fantasy'

Elena Urioste ... played with the seamless, creamy tone and phrasing that made me long for the quiet and controlled acoustics of a great concert hall. She appeared at ease and assured beyond her experience and thoughtful beyond her years. Her collaboration with [Maestro] Gupton seemed both comfortable and full of energy. It would be good to hear more from her.

Melissa White and Elena Urioste brought energy and an appropriately acidic tone to...Prokofiev's Sonata for Two Violins (Op. 56), and they were joined by [Gareth] Johnson and a fourth violinist, Trevor Ochieng', for the lively give and take in the first movement of Vivaldi's Concerto in B minor for Four Violins.

Urioste made her Cleveland Orchestra debut Tuesday at Severance Hall...Her debut piece was Chausson's Poeme, Op. 25, and she played it beautifully...Poised and sleek in an elegant gown, she drew warm tone from her historic instrument...Urioste commanded the attention of the large audience in slow, unaccompanied passages...the lyrical music sounded lovely.

The Hartford native showed all the promise and spontaneity of youth. Her tone, sweet and fluid, brought Brahmsian emphasis to the cadenza...Urioste's future is surely one to watch.

The hit of the evening was guest violinist Elena Urioste...who is phenomenal. Only 16 years old, she has unusually fine technique and finesse and plays with tremendous dramatic effect. She is also drop dead gorgeous, which doesn't hurt a thing. She is someone whom we just may be happy to say, 'I heard her when.'

From the wings, Elena Urioste's confident figure at center stage is striking...There's a level of brilliance to her technique that lets her expose the heart of the music...[Urioste] delivers a winner's performance of the allegro from Mozart's fourth concerto. And there's only one word for her playing this evening: ravishing.