“I was really impressed that she could play any pop song—we could tell her a pop song, and she could hear it and then be able to play it,” Wright said. “I was kind of surprised by the Justin Bieber song!”

Urke’s ability to play by ear is in part innate and in part due to the Suzuki training method she received as a youngster, which taught her to discern which notes are being played before reading the sheet music for the song.

Playing the violin might have taught Urke more than she thought.

“You have to pass the ball to where they are going to be, not where they are at,” Stenson said. “That takes planning ahead. Being able to read your teammates, that is very musical, very right brain, very whole picture-like.”

Stenson contends that playing music and playing soccer go hand in hand.

“There are many skills in soccer and violin that require a great deal of repetition and practice,” Stenson added. “Like they say, 10,000 touches on the ball ... the Suzuki teaching method is 10,000 repetitions of the skill, and you can master that skill.”

“In both, dedication and hard work go so far,” Urke said. “How far you can push yourself [goes] intrinsically [with] constantly trying to get better.”

Urke’s strong passion for the violin is one that she has shared with others. Through a mentoring program that provided free classes to economically disadvantaged students in middle school, Urke instilled excitement for playing the violin in many of her students.

“It shows dedication on her part,” freshman forward Erika Garcia said. “Anything she does, she does well.”

Despite her prowess in both activities, Urke never lets one eclipse the other.

“Soccer and violin have always been the things I love to do and the things I fill my time with because they make me happy,” Urke said.