Special Interests > Great Teens Doing Great Things

It's All About the Music

By Don Rauf

Elena Urioste is one of the best young violinists in the country. What is the key to her success? It all comes down to a deep love of music and--practice, practice, practice.

Although she is still a teenager, Elena Urioste has already performed as a solo violinist with some of the finest orchestras in the country. While she has had the thrill of playing in front of hundreds of people, Elena says some of the best moments of her career so far have been on a much smaller scale, playing for groups of school children.

The chance to perform in primary and secondary schools came about when Elena won the Sphinx Competition several years ago at age 16. The Sphinx organization, dedicated to promoting diversity in our nation's symphony orchestras, sponsors an annual competition to recognize African-American and Latino students who study classical music. Elena, who is of Mexican-Basque heritage, won top place. As the winner, she performed as a solo artist with four of the leading symphony orchestra in the country, including Atlanta, Detroit, Cleveland, the Boston Pops, and even at Carnegie Hall. Part of her responsibility was to also give concerts in several public schools within each of those cities. These performances were designed to get young Hispanic and African-American students excited about classical music.

Elena always enjoyed playing for these audiences, and her passion for the music was contagious. “The kids would just spark,” she says. “They would come up to me afterwards and give me huge hugs and thank me. That outreach with the kids was maybe even more rewarding than playing the big concerts.”

Before one of her in-school performances, a seven-year-old girl told Elena that she had studied the violin but had given it up. After hearing Elena play, the girl came up to her and said that she was going to ask her mom for a violin again. “That was one of the best moments of my life,” says Elena.
These outreach programs also made her more proud of her own cultural background. She recognized that as a Latina, she is still rare in the world of classical music. “I really never thought of myself as a Hispanic violinist,” she says, “but these experiences changed that.”

In many ways, Elena feels that part of her mission in life now is to get others to share her joy of music. “You have to get kids excited about this music for it to be passed on to the next generation,” she says.

She's Got the Music
Right from the beginning, Elena seemed born to be a musician. At the early age of two, she was fascinated by the violin. While watching an episode of

Sesame Street featuring a guest appearance by the great concert violinist, Itzhak Perlman, she was completely mesmerized. “I ran to my Mom and said, ‘I want to do that—I want to play the violin,'” says Elena.

Her parents were surprised at the intensity of her interest, but they waited a few years to see if it would last. When Elena turned five, she was still eager to learn the instrument, so her parents bought her a violin and enrolled her in lessons. They were amazed that, even at her young age, she had serious intentions and exhibited a natural talent. Elena would rush home every day after school, excited to practice for hours. “Neither of my parents are musical, so I guess I was pretty much a mutant,” jokes Elena.

Talent certainly plays a big part in mastering a musical instrument, but success takes tireless dedication and motivation—qualities that, Elena says, are part of who she is. “I've always been both organized and stubborn,” she explains. “If I set a plan in motion, I have to follow through with it or I'll be unhappy.” Elena stuck to a disciplined schedule, getting up every school day at about 6 a.m. and putting in an hour of practice before running for the bus. When she got back home, she sped through her homework so she could play again until dinner. As she grew older, she put in even more practice time, and her instructor CJ Chang would make her practice pieces over and over until she got them right.

“Elena didn't mind though because her whole life is music,” says Chang. “It's so deeply important to her. She feels a responsibility to make great music.”

“She succeeded through sheer force of will,” says her mother, > Annette Radoff. “There were plenty of days when she was tired or the violin mark on her neck was painful, but she kept at it through the rough periods when she felt she was not making any progress.”

A Turning Point
One of the most important moments in Elena's musical career came at age 13 when she won a competition to play with the Philadelphia Orchestra. It was also one of the most nerve-racking.

“Competitions really aren't the friendliest situations,” says Elena. “All these people cram into one room, listening to each other play. You just have to find a way to block everything out and perform.” Elena won the children's division, which meant she would perform as a soloist with the orchestra. “I remember the day of the concert so vividly,” says Elena. “I was very, very nervous. I could not get to sleep the night before. All these people were coming to hear me. With any concert, I try to stay calm. You can't be in this if you freeze. You have to love the stage, and a little adrenaline is not such a bad thing. On stage, you're playing this music and your heart is thumping—it's great.”

Elena still gets nervous before every performance, but she has come up with a routine to stay calm. She takes a nap, works out, showers, practices (“really slowly”), and then gets dressed for the show. “I try not to get distracted,” she says. “If you worry about who's going to be there and what people might think, it throws your concentration.”

Keeping It Real
While she knew she was different from her school friends, Elena didn't want to be just a “music nerd.“ I did what other teens did, or I would have gone crazy,” laughs Elena.

On the weekends, she spent time hanging out with her friends, shopping at the mall or going to the movies. On summer afternoons, her favorite break from practice was a trip to the community pool to swim with her best friend, Lee. In her junior year, she went to her boyfriend's senior prom. Her mom even made sure that she did her household chores. “She had to clean up her room just like other kids do,” says her mother.

But Elena was always very careful to keep her social life and her music life separate. She never told her friends that she actually enjoyed practicing for hours. She didn't think they would understand why violin was so important to her—it was such a different world from theirs.

As her professional music career took off, her “normal” teenage life got trickier to manage. To keep up with lessons and practice, her mother worked out special arrangements with the middle school to drive her to and from classes. The school let her miss homeroom activities and condensed her courses. But by high school, the public school schedule was still too much, so Elena and her parents home-schooled her during junior year. Then, at age 16, Elena was accepted to the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, where she had to finish her senior-year requirements long distance while beginning her first year at the Institute. Taking on this burden was well worth it. Curtis is one of the finest music conservatories in the world, and the gifted young musicians who are fortunate enough to be accepted receive full-tuition scholarships.

Reaching a Crescendo—with a Little Help
For Elena, working toward a liberal arts degree at the Curtis Institute is one more step toward her dream of becoming a professional concert violinist. While she certainly deserves a lot of credit for all her success, Elena couldn't have done it without help. “I've been very lucky,” she says. “My parents have always been very supportive, particularly my mom. She was always available to take me to lessons.”

She also credits her teachers for their support and belief in her talent. When she was 13, she was fortunate enough to have studied with Raphael Druian. The legendary concertmaster of the Cleveland Orchestra was a demanding teacher, and Elena would often break down in tears after his lessons. “But he opened my eyes to a whole new level of musicianship,” says Elena. She currently studies with the internationally acclaimed conductor and orchestral soloist Joseph Silverstein and the violinist/violist Ida Kavafian. C.J. Chang, her teacher from high school, continues to be a mentor and colleague.

Her current private lessons are part of a schedule at Curtis that is busier than ever. She also practices regularly with the symphony orchestra and various chamber groups, while staying on top of her class work. Her courses are a mix of music study balanced with language, literature, and history.

Still, Elena takes time to relax. When she needs time to herself, she jogs, knits, or reads a good book. She also enjoys all the entertainment that a big city like Philadelphia has to offer. She goes to the movies, cooks dinner with fellow students, and sometimes just unwinds by watching Sex in the City with a friend. She especially appreciates the people she has met at Curtis because they are like her in so many ways. For her first two years at Curtis, Elena says she and her roommate, Bella Hristova, were “inseparable.” “She was also a solo violinist at a young age, so she shared my dedication to and love for music,” says Elena. “We really got along.”

Elena has some straight-up advice for high school students who want to achieve their dreams. “Go with your instincts and find a career based on what you love and feel you're good at instead of trying to follow another path. If you truly love something, you will find ways of succeeding in it.”

The Curtis Institute Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Founded in 1924, Philadelphia's Curtis Institute of Music is the only major music conservatory in America that gives full-tuition scholarships to all of its students. Only five percent of those who apply are accepted, which is not surprising, considering that enrollment is limited to 163. The student body is just big enough to complete a full orchestra and a select opera department, with a small number of students dedicated to keyboard, composition, and conducting. The gifted young musicians earn a bachelor's of music degree. To learn more, visit www.curtis.edu.