Reviews

"This was music-making the like of which one rarely comes across....Above all, time after time, she displays turns of phrase and expression that simply cannot be taught. . we had been privileged witnesses to a remarkable performance." Culture Kiosque, December 2006

“Her playing has led to her being hailed as one of Britain’s brightest musical prodigies for a generation...a remarkable understanding of music far beyond her years. It was really quite astonishing...it was like listening to a 12-year-old Menuhin.” – James Tozer, Daily Mail, 28 May 2002.

"Jennifer Pike has one principal advantage over many brilliant child musicians...she is extremely musical.  No peacock display, no redundant pyrotechnics or acrobatics; good clean playing, well articulated, intelligently phrased, and warmed by a strong, confident sound marked her lucid playing of the concerto" (Mozart Violin Concerto no 4, London Mozart Players), Michael Tumelty, Glasgow Herald, 3 June 2003.

“Allied to the youthful freshness of her performance, there was a wise understanding of structural and expressive proportion, a sweet and pliant tone and some light, agile finger-work.  Her phrasing was mellifluous, and there was a fine balance between delicacy and ardour.” Geoffrey Norris, The Daily Telegraph – 28 May 2002.

“A breathtaking performance of Mendelssohn’s violin concerto” – Sally Weale, The Guardian, 28 May 2002.

"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." (Prokofiev Violin Concerto No 1 in D, cond. Mark Elder). Bernard Lee, Sheffield Evening Telegraph, 4 July 2003. 

“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 - 16 February 2004

“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

"It's encouraging, in these days when emerging artists can so easily find themselves pushed and over-hyped into an early burnout, to find violinist Jennifer Pike taking the slow and careful route to stardom. Only now, a week after her 16th birthday, has she felt ready to face the toughest and most discriminating audience of all, that of London's Wigmore Hall. But it was worth the wait. Pike's growing maturity as an artist was immediately apparent." Matthew Rye,The Daily Telegraph - 19 November 2005

"The most rewarding part of the whole five-hour venture came in the first five minutes, when 15-year-old Jennifer Pike played a pair of movements from Bach's solo Partita No 3 with great subtlety and composure.”  The Daily Telegraph 1 August 2005

"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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