July. 2026 Gramophone
Review: ~Nois: “What is ~Nois” [headline]
“[Running in a Field of Flowers by Travis Laplante] ends with an astonishing cameo from Julian Velasco – his virtuosic passagework conjuring not only the unfettered spirit of youth but also Charlie Parker, Ornette Coleman, Chis Potter and John Zorn”
Nov. 2025 Washington Post
Review: At the 2026 Grammy Awards, the National Philharmonic, Adam Tendler, and Shawn Okpebholo lead a field of strong contenders. [headline]
“The race for best contemporary classical composition is a crop of familiar names… (my pick) Shawn E. Okpebholo’s Songs in Flight.”A formidable cast of singers (baritone Will Liverman, countertenor Reginald Mobley and soprano Karen Slack) take on texts from poets Tsitsi Jaji, Crystal Simone Smith and Tyehimba Jess; and multi-instrumentalist Rhiannon Giddens is joined by pianist Paul Sánchez and saxophonist Julian Velasco. It’s a work of astonishing emotional depth and historical breadth by a composer who continues to meet and rise above the moment.”
Nov. 2025 Chicago Classical Review
Review: Viet Cuong’s energetic music in the spotlight at Northwestern [headline]
“The evening proved an exciting and intensely personal showcase of Cuong’s distinctive compositional voice while also spotlighting three major groups [~Nois Quartet, Third Coast Percussion, and Eighth Blackbird] at the forefront of new music in America.”
Feb. 2025 BBC Music Magazine
Songs in Flight: “An outstanding response to America's painful past” [headline]
“The album also includes a song from each of Okpebholo's other song cycles, which feature elegant performances from saxophonist Julian Velasco."
April. 2024 Musical America
New Artist of the Month Profile: ~Nois [LINK]
Feb. 2024 Musical America
New Music in the West Loop: Saxes and Trumpets Onstage [headline]
“Julian Velasco, a daring, athletic player” – Hannah Edgar
Aug. 2023 Chicago Classical Review
Grant Park Orchestra… a delightfully devilish finale [headline]
“Kalmar led an incisive and idiomatic performance of Rachmaninoff’s Swansong. The lean lyricism of the secondary theme… [was] nicely enhanced by Julian Velasco’s sinuous saxophone.” – Lawrence Johnson
Dec. 2022 Third Coast Review
Chicago’s Cedille Records Keeps Putting Out Great Stuff [headline]
“[Julian Velasco] and pianist Winston Choi created a delightful set of recordings by contemporary composers that take the listener in all sorts of different directions.… Fabulous.” – Louis Harris
Oct. 2022 Gramophone
Review: Julian Velasco: “As We Are” [headline]
“Cedille celebrates its 30th anniversary with a cool recital by saxophonist Julian Velasco, winner of the Chicago-based label’s first Emerging Artist Competition”
“Gorgeous… raucous… lovely…. What a way for a young saxophonist to break into the big time.” – Laurence Vittes
Sep. 2022 Chicago Tribune
A Phenomenal Sax Soloist… at Chicago Sinfonietta’s Season Opener
“As We Are” is a bird’s-eye view of Velasco’s range, both as an infectiously joyous interpreter of new music and a monster improviser.”
“The young soloist played his saxophone like a one-pipe organ, conjuring distinct timbres on a dime — burly passages evaporated into wispy harmonics and arpeggios flowed with the liquid ease of a bowed instrument. Stylistic pirouettes seemed just as effortless.”– Hannah Edgar
Sep. 2022 Chicago Classical Review
Sinfonietta Opens with the Joy of Sax [headline]
“The Puerto Rican composer provided a fitting showcase for Julian Velasco…a piece that freely mixes jazz and classical idioms with improvised and notated music… Velasco demonstrated impressive agility, dynamic control, and stylistic sensitivity… his crystalline high notes and long arching phrases showcasing his technical range. Velasco played the rapid flights with pinpoint accuracy… Velasco also revealed a penchant for performance in the final improvised cadenza.” – Katherine Buzzard
Oct. 2021 Chicago Tribune
So that was an Unforgettable Ear Taxi [headline]
“Annika Socolofsky’s “I Tell You Me” (in its world-premiere performance by ~Nois saxophone quartet and Socolofsky herself) as among the most captivating compositions I heard the whole [Ear Taxi] festival.” – Hannah Edgar
Aug. 2021 New York Times
As Bang On a Can Returns, a New Generation Rises [headline]
“In addition to the starry headliners, there were also students from the Bang on a Can summer institute, who were given moments to shine…The saxophonist Julian Velasco, for example, excelled as part of a mixed professional and student ensemble in Julius Eastman’s “Femenine” on Friday, and as part of a duo playing Shelley Washington’s “BIG Talk” on Saturday.” – Seth Colter Walls