American Composers Orchestra (ACO), now in its 40th season, is the only orchestra in the world dedicated to the creation, performance, promotion and celebration of music by American composers. ACO makes the creation of new opportunities for American composers and new American orchestral music its central purpose. Through concerts at Carnegie Hall and other venues, educational programs, New Music Readings, and commissions, ACO identifies today’s brightest emerging composers, champions prominent established composers as well as those lesser-known, and increases regional, national, and international awareness of the infinite variety of American orchestral music, reflecting geographic, stylistic, and temporal diversity. ACO also serves as an incubator of ideas, research, and talent, as a catalyst for growth and change among orchestras, and as an advocate for American composers and their music. Visit americancomposers.org for more information.

Violinist Elena Urioste—hailed by The Washington Post as “a drop-dead beauty who plays with equal parts passion, sensuality, brains and humor”—has given acclaimed performances with major orchestras across the US and Europe. She has performed as a soloist in Carnegie Hall’s Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage and Weill Recital Hall, as well as in recital at London’s Wigmore Hall, among other venues. She also has been a featured artist at such music festivals as Marlboro, Ravinia, La Jolla, Sarasota, and Sion (Switzerland). An avid chamber musician, Urioste regularly performs in a piano trio with pianist Michael Brown and cellist Nicholas Canellakis, as well as in recital with Brown and pianist Tom Poster. Among her many honors are top awards in the Junior and Senior divisions of the Sphinx Competition, first prize at the Sion International Violin Competition, and the inaugural Sphinx Medal of Excellence. Urioste is a graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music and completed graduate studies at The Juilliard School.