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There could be no better way to open a three-concert day devoted to the violin than a solo from Britain’s foremost young fiddler: the 15-year-old Jennifer Pike stepped on to the platform and delivered the prelude (and gavotte en rondeau) from Bach’s Third Partita with perfect poise and assurance, her instrument sounding clear and strong.

The Independent

2 August 2005

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Perfection from Pike. The high spot of the evening was Jennifer Pike’s performance of the Bruch violin concerto. She played it as if it had been composed yesterday, fiery, powerful playing in the prelude and a sense of deepening intensity in the adagio, followed by a firework finale. Her tone was matchless and her technique magnificent: but the exciting thing was the individual musical mind she brought to it. With Boyd’s help [the conductor], she made a hackneyed piece sound fresh – and for a 14-year-old, that points to an extraordinary future.

Robert Beale, Manchester Evening News

Manchester Camerata
16 February 2004

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From the outset, the beautiful melody being sustained with a veteran’s ease, her playing had astonishing tonal variety, was always firm and full-bodied whether in the instrument’s lower, middle or higher registers and everything accurately pitched on a sixpence. It was admirable, even frightening, for one so young and she knew all about interpretation.

Bernard Lee, Sheffield Evening Telegraph

Prokofiev Violin Concerto No 1, cond. Mark Elder
4 July 2003

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The real zing was located elsewhere: in 15-year-old Jennifer Pike, confidently launching the afternoon Prom with her solo Bach.

The Times

2 August 2005

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Jennifer Pike’s approach immediately gave the message that this was to be a lyrical interpretation, one characterised by beauty of sound. But there was more to it than that in a performance that Jennifer has been honing since a child prodigy. There is a cultivation of phrasing incorporating nuances that can be breathtaking in their subtlety….Jennifer’s virtuosity is there to serve nothing other than the music. I have witnessed many performances of the concerto from Menuhin onwards but I do believe this one had a beauty of tone that surpassed them all.

Seen and Heard International

Mendelssohn Violin Concerto, London Mozart Players
21 September 2015