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Young Beethoven and extravagant Liszt
A stirring foretaste of the Year of Beethoven
“A few weeks before the beginning of the big Year of Beethoven, the Bonn pianist bowed to the music titan and made the musical world of the young composer come alive once again before the mind’s eye. Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1727) spent 22 years of his life in Bonn: With explanatory remarks on his early works, Jamina Gerl brought that era to life for the audience and, with her fresh, technically perfect playing, presented young Beethoven as an ambitious tone poet whose beginnings already revealed a glimpse of all his skill."
"The sublime musical sensitivity with which Jamina Gerl tackled the trifles was remarkable and she skillfully combined clarity and transparency with a very broad tonal spectrum. With style, elegance and a truly brilliant technique, the talented artist lent each piece of music – whether playful or powerful – her own signature.”
06.12.2019, Hohenzollerische Zeitung, Antonia Lezerkoss

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Romantic and instructive
“The extremely emotional interpretation was striking at this point, the volume from piano to mezzo forte delicately and quietly, tenderly touching the keys and heightening the sound volume, while showcasing the entire tonal spectrum of the keyboard."
"The aesthetically fascinating contrast formed many of the passages in the Beethoven works performed, especially in those in sonata form, with stunningly powerful fortissimo playing as well as with delicately subtle executions. Ultimately, Jamina Gerl put her extraordinary technical skill fully to the service of a balanced interpretation. And finally, thanks to her presentation, the event was quite instructive.”
06.12.2019, Schwarzwälder Bote, Willy Beyer

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Beethovenfest – A feast for Bonn’s music scene
“Jamina Gerl made a great impression with an energetic and gripping interpretation of the first movement, the first, striking chords to the solo coda, which led into a rhythmic march. In the sensitively rendered middle movement, she was able to yield a little more in an accompanying role, only to once again boast a finale marked by wide-ranging bass figures. She rewarded the enthusiastic applause with a movement from a Robert Schumann sonata dedicated to Clara.”
16.09.2019, Bonner Rundschau, Felicitas Zink

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Displays of affection on the piano
Pianist Jamina Gerl devoted her concert at the Stadthalle to the closeness of the couple Clara and Robert Schumann
“For the 200th birthday of Clara Schumann on September 13, at the beginning of her concert the charismatic artist traced the biographical and musical relationships between the piano-playing and composing spouses Clara and Robert Schumann. [...] On the Bösendorfer grand, the subtle sound of which corresponds to that of the Schumann era, Gerl pursued the countless messages and intimations that are interwoven in the music. She played with a polished touch and feminine verve and let the music speak to the listener with a differentiated view of its meaningful polyphony.”
09.09.2019, Rheinische Post, Udo Spelleken

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Piano trio cheekily sets Mendelssohn's goblins spinning
“Right at the beginning, Jamina Gerl showed her well-known qualities on the grand piano: Clara Schumann’s variations on a theme by Robert Schumann became an abysmal soliloquy, exposing ramified vibrations of the soul in a colorful, transparent mesh. The fact that she can make even simple melodies breathe and vibrate like living organisms was demonstrated in Mendelssohn’s ‘Gondola Song,’ which seamlessly segued into the ‘Tarantella’ by Fanny Hensel, whose virtuoso exuberance was clearly inspired by the final movement of her brother’s ‘Italian Symphony.’”
09.09.2019, Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung, Roland Dymke

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Little showpiece of colourfully resplendent piano performance
Jamina Gerl proved her high class skills with Franz Liszt’s hellishly difficult “Dante Sonata”
“Francesco Petrarca’s free-floating subjectivity, unprecedented for a poet of the 14th century, finds a counterpart in Franz Liszt’s ‘Petrarch Sonnets,’ to which Jamina Gerl lent a fascinating transcendence. Even in the closing ‘Dante Sonata’ with its horrendous difficulties, she never allowed her virtuosity to become an end in itself, but transformed the wildly raging chromatics of Dante’s ‘Hell’ into pained, hopeful song.”
11.12.2018 Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung, Roland Dymke

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Homage to the music of France
Impressive performance by pianist Jamina Gerl at the benefit concert for Aktion Weihnachtslicht at the Beethoven House
“The French idiom comes naturally to Jamina Gerl, as she demonstrated with the piece by Saint-Saëns. She enfolded number two of the cycle, the ‘Carillon’ in an almost mysterious tonal aura. In the virtuoso Toccata from the same cycle, she commendably paid particular attention to tracing a melodic arc within the maze of notes. She particularly demonstrated her ability to ‘sing’ melodies on the grand piano with the most beautiful legato sound in Gabriel Fauré’s darkly shaded Nocturne op. 33 no. 1 in E flat minor.”
“She chose ‘L’Isle Joyeuse’ from Debussy’s extensive piano oeuvre, one of the most technically demanding that the composer ever wrote. It takes outstanding skill on the piano to hide the physical effort this piece demands. For Jamina Gerl, the music had the effect of a united Dionysian rapture of sound.”
23.11.2018 General-Anzeiger, Bernhard Hartmann

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Subtly rendered moods at the Villa
Jamina Gerl thrilled the Hechingen audience with a piano recital at Villa Eugenia
“And Gerl’s performance was just as dazzling as Debussy’s harmonics. The expressive range of her playing seemed to have no limits, everything utterly audible, perfectly balanced, instantly tangible: a captivating play with timbres.”
29.05.2018 Südwest Presse, Antonia Lezerkoss

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Elegant salon pieces, musical Impressionist magic
The pianist Jamina Gerl at the Ruhr Piano Festival in Bochum Wattenscheid
“No question, Jamina Gerl has an affinity with the French composers: The elegance of the salon pieces, the musical magic of the Impressionists are qualities she possesses in abundance. Ravel’s Jeux d'eau vibrantly bubbles and sparkles with carefree virtuosity. Even Debussy’s L’isle joyeuse delivers on its promise under Gerl’s fingers.”“Franz Liszt’s Ballade No. 2 ‘Hero and Leander,’ a dramaturgically very effective, ever intensifying piece, a roller coaster of emotions, which, after the predominantly calm, tonally very subtle first part, adds a proper dash of spice to the evening. This petite woman in her early thirties is certainly able to powerfully unleash the tonal force of her instrument [...] Huge applause for a pianistic act of strength.”
05.05.2018 Westfälischer Anzeiger, Karsten Mark

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A sprite on the piano
At the grand piano, Jamina Gerl thrilled the almost completely full prince’s hall of Salder Castle with a virtuosic French program
“Gerl made the water of fountains, cataracts and brooks audible. She impressively depicted the ever-restless, changeable element.”
“…Gerl was always in pursuit of Saint-Saëns’ wit and irony […] rapturous applause for a remarkable pianist.”
09.04.2018 Salzgitter Zeitung, Martin Winrich Becker

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An evening of symphonic greatness
„The two musicians inspired the audience with their empathetic, energetic playing [...] At times, the instruments seemed to become one to then connect again in a communicative way – the listeners enjoyed the great virtuosity of the musicians.“
26.01.2018 Böhmer-Zeitung, Müller Dorit

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An experience that stays with you
„Jamina Gerl took her mesmerized audience along on an incredible, infernal ride, again and again interrupting it with no less gripping Elysian phases. It was here that the artist revealed the outstanding rank and breadth that she had indicated at the start in Bach’s aria. An experience that stays with you!“
16.05.2017 Südwest Presse, Ulrich Kernen

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Highlight was the „Wanderer Fantasy“
Pianist Jamina Gerl shines in her master’s concert for the Werner Trenkner Gesellschaft
„Listeners were able to admire the interpreter’s sensitivity and the wealth of timbres in her Beethoven performance [...] ‘The Wanderer’ is also the title of her new CD and, as on the disc, the pianist ended the concert with a stunning interpretation of Schubert’s great ‘Wanderer Fantasy.’“
20.03.2017 Solinger Tageblatt, Klaus Günther

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On the trail of the lonely wanderer
„As a performer, Jamina Gerl confidently transverses a great tonal cosmos of flickering reflections on the water and dark gorges, a sense of invigoration and thunderstorms: the pianist from Bonn portrays all this with technical excellence – for instance, in the virtuoso pieces by Liszt – and musical empathy.“
20.11.2016 Lüneburger Landeszeitung

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Jamina Gerl demonstrates her brilliance in “Opposites”
The audience thanks the 30-year-old pianist with almost unending applause
„Listening to Mozart’s Sonata KV 332 in F major and Beethoven’s Sonata Op. 111 in C minor indeed meant hearing two opposite emotions. The sentiments in the piece by the Viennese master were playful, almost carefree and light as a child. The combination of Jamina Gerl’s precise, yet relaxed and easy playing in the third movement, the fast-paced Allegro assai, was remarkable. By contrast, the work of Bonn’s composer was full of feeling, with a touch of melancholy, which was perfectly reflected in the C minor, while the two movements of Beethoven’s last piano sonata portray yet another contrast. The Maestoso was powerful and full of emotion; the Arietta was calm, solemn and thoughtful.“
02.05.2016 Rheinzeitung, Andreas Wetzler

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Diabolic feat of strength
„Jamina Gerl perfectly adapted the programme of her piano recital in the Post Tower Lounge
to this year’s Beethoven Festival theme: ‘Changes’.“
„The cycle of variations seemed to have been composed just for Jamina Gerl: brilliant and yet profound ... The simply structured theme was followed by a smooth rendition of the piece by the Bonn native, who clearly distinguished the different characters of the variations and wandered from clear to nebulous, from powerful to flattering.“
„Now, however, the Chaconne was heard in Busoni’s arrangement – not pompous, but taut,
with careful use of the pedal and high concentration on orchestral timbres.“
„Towards the end, Schubert’s song Der Wanderer was first heard in Lisztian modification. Gerl made the valley steam, the sea roar and the searching hiker sigh and despair, before subjecting the song to yet another transformation: She presented an enormous, almost diabolic feat of strength with the Wanderer Fantasy.“
„Nevertheless, the audience marvelled at the young pianist’s power and pianistic mastery.“
„The audience was thrilled and lured forth Mendelssohn’s Gondola Song in F sharp minor Op. 30 no. 6 as an encore, which she rendered delicately and intimately.“
03.10.2015 General-Anzeiger, Barbara Pikullik

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Jamina Gerl’s brilliant performance at the Bürgersaal
„She performed the Chaconne with cool noblesse and yet appropriately paced vitality, bringing out
both the complex melodies and Busoni's romantic notions with colourful pedal use.“
„With her powerful fortissimo, Gerl took her fascinated listeners captive from the outset,
while at the same time giving a magnificent rendition of the lyrical and sparkling moments.“
26.09.2015 Schleswiger Nachrichten, Werner Bodendorff

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Sonata shrouded in myth
„The guest of the evening, however, gives proof of her extraordinary talent not only at the piano, but also in the way in which she explains the essence of the famous Sonata in an understandable way even for non-professionals ... she impressively underpins her explanations with excerpts from the sonata.“
„Her piano playing is characterized by empathy, nuance, a brilliant technique and stylistically confident musical performance.“
„Her fingers seem to fly over the keyboard at times; she softly and gently coaxes melodious, lyrical timbres from the instrument.“
„Not only the artist seems to be lost in another world, even some of the listeners are sent into reveries by the melody...“
„After almost two hours it’s all over. Sadly. The response of the audience shows that they would have gladly heard more.“
13.07.2015 Buxtehuder Tageblatt, Franziska Felsch

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Soulful sounds and concentrated silence
„The young pianist cast a spell on her audience with her spirited and emotional playing.“
„…with her energetic and soulful sounds, the pianist gave a fulminant opening, and her performance of Franz Schubert's impromptus was no less marked by confidence.“
„Not only were the older visitors visibly impressed by the artist’s strong performance, but the younger members of the audience obviously also wholly appreciated the artist’s virtuosity.“
27.04.2015 Westfälische Nachrichten, Anne Reinker

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Sensitive rhetoric, precise changes of tempo
„While her technical skills are superior to any difficulty whatsoever, she does not deliver narcissistic keyboard acrobatics, but an exceptionally profound interpretation in which the virtuosic aspects of this 760-measure, thoroughly composed, dazzling sonata dedicated to Robert Schumann are consistently devoted to what appears to be a completely sound anamnesis of the phenomenon of Franz Liszt...“
„Gerl also renders Mendelssohn with convincingly graded drama, portraying him as a lyrical ‘narrator’ with utter stylistic confidence, and even the urgent drive of the final presto does not sacrifice its poetic content to effect.“
„With sensitive rhetoric and delicate changes of tempo, Bach’s last work from Volume I of the Well-Tempered Clavier is then rendered in a way that clearly underlines the very modernity of Bach.“
„Gerl’s interpretation of Beethoven’s cycle of variations resembles a doctrine of different temperaments, whereby she gives suspenseful evidence of the broad versatility of Beethoven's energetic art of variations.“
März 2015 nmz (Neue Musikzeitung)

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With drive and energy
Bonn’s Jamina Gerl gave a compelling piano performance
„The soloist was pianist Jamina Gerl from Bonn, who performed her part absolutely brilliantly. Far from any virtuosic sensationalism, she delivered a compelling performance with an interpretation that was well-thought out both in detail and on the whole.“
02.02.2015 General-Anzeiger, Guido Krawinkel

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Proof of great talent
„...the program sequence ranged from Bach to Debussy and culminated in the magnificent and technically quite demanding B Minor Sonata by Liszt, which the musician performed with an unerring sense of its specific mix of virtuosity and intellectual background...“
„Jamina Gerl also masters the simple and austere sides of music, which shone particularly in the works by Bach and Beethoven, and she also did justice to the “romantic classic” of Mendelssohn's exquisite F Sharp Minor Fantasy, which is all too rarely played, in a most beautiful way.“
February 2015 Köln-Bonner Musikkalender, Gunter Duvenbeck

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Gentle lioness on the piano
„While she mastered all technical complexities with unperturbed ease, we do not witness acrobatic power piano playing, but exceptionally subtle art.“
„Bach’s last work from the first volume of his so-called “old testament” is rendered with sensitive rhetoric.“
„Gerl’s interpretation of Beethoven’s cycle of variations resembles a doctrine of different temperaments.“
30.12.2014 General-Anzeiger, Fritz Herzog

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Virtuosic pianist with good memory
„Despite the differentiation, one had the impression that the whole piece was seamless – it was performed superbly.“
„Jamina Gerl played the soft, almost chorale-like beginning fervently. The nocturne also exuded many emotions – the last chord was allowed to linger for a long time.“
„And once again, the audience witnessed powerful playing filled out with soft voices as the pianist seemed to caress the keys.“
„One could only admire the differentiated interpretation: she conjured a wide variety of sounds from the Steinway grand.“
17.03.2014 Flensburger Tageblatt, Reimer Pohl 

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Expressive chords and swift runs
„Young Bonn-born pianist Jamina Gerl … enthused her obviously highly knowledgeable audience with her highly focused, masterly and perfect piano playing beyond all measure.”
„It was an intoxicating musical performance staging quiet poetic and strikingly expressive chords as well as delicate and swift artistic elements with precision and sensitivity.”
„The pianist cast a spell over her audience, almost suggestively, with flaming rhythm and soft emotionality”
„The enthusiastic audience thanked her with well-deserved standing ovations, asking for an encore of such perfect musical enjoyment.”
31.01.2014 Rhein-Zeitung, Wolfram Heidelmayer 

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'International Shining Stars' Present Solo and Chamber Pieces
Four Persuasive Pianists
„Ms. Gerl’s disciplined and distinguished interpretation was on an elevated technical and musical level. At times it seemed as if she was channeling Beethoven himself improvising at the piano at white heat.”
02.12.2013 The Epoch Times, Michael Sherwin

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Jamina Gerl excels in New York
„The young pianist from Bonn won the 1st prize at the 2013 International Shining Stars Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto Competition and delivered a fulminant performance of Piano Concerto No. 3 by Sergei Vassilievich Rachmaninoff (1873–1943) on October 7, 2013.”
Dezember 2013 nmz (Neue Musikzeitung) 

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Exciting sensitive performance
„She gave a wonderful rendition of the special Beethoven sound with her sensitive, energetic and soulful playing.”
„At this point, her performance turned into enchantment, which was reflected by the audience that remained very quiet throughout the concert. No noise was heard, just the artist playing.”
„Gerl gave beautiful expression to Chopin’s emotionality by her exciting rendition of the octaves that lead to a heaven of joy, full of passion and effervescence and eventually coming back to rest. Gerl mastered this music with fervor and unperturbed outer appearance.”
„…she brought the audience to fever pitch.”
Dezember 2013 nmz (Neue Musikzeitung), Gabriele Paqué

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New York Concerti Sinfonietta Presents Exciting Concerts
'Rach 3' piano concerto conquers
„…on the strength of Jamina Gerl’s presentation of the Third Concerto at the Church of St. Joseph on Oct. 7, the work holds no terrors for her.”
„Her performance was a triumph for all concerned.”
„Gerl is a lioness of the keyboard. She has an enviably secure technique and fast fingers, while her warm tone avoided undue percussiveness. She had a firm concept of each movement’s overall structure. Not surprisingly, she elected to play the concerto’s original, more difficult cadenza, building it up inexorably to serve as the climax of the movement with startling, even frightening power.”
„The performance ended strongly. Gerl’s brisk tempos gave the last movement a run for its money, elevating the adrenaline level. The ferocious motoric power of her stretto near the close of the finale raised goose bumps, opening out into a majestically broad, lyrical, and exultant presentation of the culminating melodic theme, capped by a brilliant fusillade of octaves hammering home the emphatic conclusion of an exciting interpretation.”
14.10.2013 The Epoch Times, New York

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Further feedback
„Her performance was of the highest caliber and displayed sensitivity, nuance, technical command and stylistic musical delivery in her entire program.”
03.02.2014 Dr. Jody Graves (Eastern Washington University)

„A woman with stron musical ideas… willing to be flexible and perform as a chamber musician with the orchestra when necessary. It was a pleasure to make music with her.”
02.02.2014
Paul Hostetter (Music Director and Conductor of the New York Concerti Sinfonietta Orchestra)

„She is an extremely gifted pianist with enormous potential. I was always impressed by her preparation and the depth of her performances.”
30.09.2012 Dr. James Litzelman (Catholic University of America)

„I very much appreciate both her great skill and flexibility as a pianist. Ms. Gerl is an outstanding pianist, an imaginative musician and a wonderful collaborator in accompanying and chamber music.”
12.09.2012 Prof. Jody Gatwood (Concert Master Emeritus, National Philharmonic Orchestra)

„While still very early in her career, Ms. Gerl has already developed impressive technical capabilities as well as a mature, sensitive approach to the piano.”
26.01.2011 Dr. Alexander Tutunov (Southern Oregon University)

„She is an exciting performer who brings tremendous artistry and musicianship to her performances.”
19.11.2009 Dr. Eduard Zilberkant (Music Director and Conductor of the Fairbanks Symphony orchestra)

„I have known Jamina Gerl for several years and have seen great progress in her artistry. She is both exciting and profound in her music making.”
25.09.2009 Dr. Jerome Rose (Mannes College of Music)

„She is an extremely talented pianist with sensitive, intellectual and keen artistic musical abilities.”
28.10.2008 Prof. Roswitha Gediga (Hochschule für Musik und Tanz Köln)

„Ms. Jamina Gerl impressed as a thoughtful, dedicated musician, endowed with temperament sensitivity, admirable technical control and, significantly, attention to the quality of sound.”
14.09.2008 Prof. Emanuel Krasovsky (Tel Aviv University)

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