Elena Urioste was still a small child when her first music teacher told her to always keep a banana handy at concerts to ensure the success of her performance. In her nervousness she would never eat the tropical fruit, known to sooth the nerves with its active beta-blocking properties, instead placing it next to her violin case – to looks of puzzlement she still remembers today. Born in Philadelphia of Mexican and Basque heritage, Urioste studied at the famed Curtis Institute of Music and has played with many of the major American orchestras. Now grown into a beautiful performer in her twenties, she no longer holds her “banana superstition”. Quite the contrary, she strives to follow an everyday routine in preparing to perform, with a full morning’s practice, followed by a long rest, exercise and shower. In an evening with the MÁV Symphony Orchestra embracing Spanish and other Latin-themed works, she will play a series of tangos by the Argentine Astor Piazzolla evoking the atmosphere of Buenos Aires while recalling Vivaldi’s more famous work. Another composition tailor-made for Urioste is the brilliant virtuoso fantasy on themes from Bizet’s opera Carmen by the Basque Pablo de Sarasate. This full-blooded selection of music will be conducted by the MÁV Symphony Orchestra’s new artistic director Péter Csaba, a violist and conductor born in Kolozsvár (Cluj-Napoca) and living in Lyon in France since the 1980s. This outstanding musician sits on the juries of international music competitions, leads master classes and is a regular guest of prestigious festivals.

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