Press and Reviews
17 October 2023
“In his intelligently chosen programme involving technical wizardry and searching musicality, Chen dazzled with a sparkling virtuosity … coupled with an intensity of expression fueled by subtle use of rubato and dynamics, dynamism and the energy and sincerity of youth.”
21 August 2023
“Streaks of lightning shot across the keys with amazing intensity and control and led to the incredible virtuosity of the famous octaves. I have never heard them so clear or precise as today from artists in live performance ... With Kevin we were not even aware of them, such was their supreme musical significance.”
21 August 2023
“Kevin Chen’s technical skills are truly extraordinary, as is his extraordinary tenderness and sensitivity to every sound, whether it be excruciatingly sad, poetic and lyrical, or full of depth, madness and vibrating spontaneity. The festival audience listened to the artist in absolute concentration, as if enchanted by his incredible musical imagination.”
6 August 2023
“At this remarkable piano festival at Duszniki-Zdrój, the oldest in the world, there is always what I have come to term a ‘Duszniki Moment’. I wait for the appearance of something magical ... The recital by Kevin Chen was the moment this festival, an exciting interval of heightened life, a too brief period of keyboard musical transcendence and wonder as life stretches mysteriously ahead.”
6 August 2023
“Delicacy, beauty and intelligence combined with technical brilliance captured the imagination and enthusiasm of an audience already astounded by Chopin Studies op. 10 that have rarely, if never, been played with such mastery.”
“In Kevin’s hands, the genius of Chopin was at last revealed, where the composer’s innovative use of the piano was so apparent as never before.”