"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."

[Ms. Urioste] played with a charismatic naturalness, and articulated the sense of spontaneity and gentle humor in this music ...

... She also wrote her own cadenzas, spinning ideas together that were separated in Mozart's complex circuitry.

The overall feel was of understated elegance and the true beauty of the evening, excellent music aside, was that after five minutes of playing the audience had forgotten race and was enthralled by some superb young artists. The performances were as good as you would hear in any hall in America and several of the soloists may be seen on all of those stages before they are through.

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"An African-American girl came up to me after I played and she told me, almost in a whisper, like she didn't want anyone else to hear, 'I didn't know African-Americans played the violin.' I told her I didn't know that either when I was a kid."

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The orchestra gave a shapely, sumptuous reading of the first movement from Tchaikovsky's Serenade for Strings, with Damon Gupton conducting, as well as a vigorous, unconducted performance of the Presto from Mozart's Divertimento in F (K. 138). Read More...

[Elena] Urioste is an unmistakably talented young performer just beginning what will no doubt be an exceptional career.

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From the strikingly beautiful extemporized version of the "Star Spangled Banner" to the emphatic finale of Michael Abels' "Delights and Dances," the debut concert by the Sphinx Chamber Orchestra yesterday in Orchestra Hall was an artistic triumph and a marvel of institutional collaboration. Read More...

.... the gifted young violinist Elena Urioste took the musical vocabulary into murkier densities in Jean Sibelius' demanding "Concerto in D Minor for Violin and Orchestra," Op. 47, with an unerring performance that disguised its technical virtuosity.

... Urioste's performance illustrated why Sibelius' concerto is nothing short of a redefining of what the concerto genre could be and what a virtuoso violinist could do.

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"...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 Tchaikovsky'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."

[Elena Urioste] played with virtuoso flair ...

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.''
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[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." Read More...

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.

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.

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."