Reviews
A cosmonaut.
Arie Vardi
Classical pianist, conductor, and piano pedagogue
Martin Leung, a pianist who gained fame on YouTube, brought down the house with his signature blindfolded performance of the theme from Super Mario Brothers.
Seth Schiesel
The New York Times
The concert also included a performance by pianist Martin Leung...
Grace Jean
The Washington Post
…a brilliant pianist…
Leo Cotterell
The Times (United Kingdom)
Pianist Martin Leung totally rocks the house.
Chris Kohler
Wired
…an amazing classical musician. …Leung’s delivery of [Liszt Piano Concerto No. 1], which is technically very difficult, was wonderful …
Joe Couture
The Leader-Post
…a rising talent of the future … refined young man … joyful energy … precise, skilled attack of the keyboard [when playing Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 1 with the Saskatoon Symphony Orchestra].
Heather Persson
The StarPhoenix
Martin Leung is breaking new ground performing Poem of the Adventurer, music with the popular appeal of video game themes and classical virtuosic technique. …His performance was both artistic and full of bravado.
Michael Glenn Williams
pianist and composer
…poised and sensitive … [performance of Chopin Nocturne No. 20 in C-sharp Minor]
Ann Conway
Los Angeles Times
Martin Leung played the Mendelssohn [Piano Concerto No. 1 – III. Presto in Carnegie Hall] with fire and élan.
Michael Rydzynski
Irvine World News, 3 July 2003
…Mr. Leung is also a serious classical musician. …One felt dramatic power, sensitive, nuance, and sheer poetry. Mr. Leung gave a colorful performance, varied and played with astonishing technical assurance. In the Beethoven he reached into the depths of the piano for the sublime and brought out the intimations of it that the audience expected. In the Grieg he found wit, tenderness, and moments of the grotesque; in the Chopin he served up a heart-on-the-sleeve romanticism. And his video game music is an indication that he is more than a little playful. He is a clearly a pianist to watch.
Fred Volkmer
critic at large
The real star of the show [Video Games Live], however, was pianist Martin Leung, known around the world as the “Video Game Pianist.” His medley of songs from the Final Fantasy series was truly a showstopper. At points during the set, it seemed as if the music was no longer coming from the piano but from Mr. Leung himself.
Kip Mooney
Dallas Morning News, 22 June 2007
Martin achieved a staggering degree of Internet fame with a six-minute video… It’s a hilarious, jaw-dislocating virtuoso performance. …Martin is the gold standard in a shockingly large kingdom of Internet-only Super Mario tributes…
Rob Harvilla
Riverfront Times
[Martin Leung’s video game music performance] …sounded like any great performance from a classical music concert and brought the crowd to a standing ovation.
Jason Silverstein
Buffalo News
Martin Leung, the Video Game Pianist, amazed…
Tom Murray
Edmonton Journal
… jubilant [and] … buoyant [performance of the Super Mario Bros. theme] … knockout performance of the emotional “Final Fantasy” theme …
Michael J. Pollack
The Westfield Leader and Scotch Plains-Fanwood Times
Leung is a clever, playful musician with an accessible style that is sure to appeal to young piano students, teachers, and video game lovers alike.
Mark Dunham
Alaska Dispatch News
Martin Leung … [performed] to a standing ovation.
Julio Ojeda-Zapata
TwinCities Pioneer Press
[virtuosic] …and warmly welcomed
Michael Machosky
Pittsburgh Tribune Review
At the Southampton Cultural Center, Leung brilliantly swung from a rhapsodic Piano Sonata in C by Beethoven to a wild interpretation of a Pac Man game. No wonder his You Tube site is one of the most heavily trafficked in their history! The evening was a pure delight with a Chopin Polonaise juxtaposed with the Mario Brothers theme.
Nicole B. Brewer
Hamptons.com
Other crowd-pleasing flourishes abound: …pianist Martin Leung does the blindfolded performance of the Mario theme that made him a YouTube celebrity…
Dave Barker
The Boston Phoenix, 21 November 2008
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