Press Comments (Translated by K. Pauly)

"Gießener Anzeiger" - Immaculate beauty next to strong feelings, pipe organ and violin in an exquisite inspiring dialog"... Jens Amend lent Johann Sebastian Bach's Fantasia and Fugue g moll, Bwv 542, quite easily a buoyant spirit, as it once was the trademark of the organist himself. " ...audibly Jens Amends taste was Gaston Litaizes "Preludes et danse fugee". He preserved the boisterous dynamic variety of the opus with sovereignty, he marked details not only brisk but also clear, as he displayed the music vividly, he simply swept the audience away with his glorious drive."

"Hersfelder Zeitung" - Through the centuries on a key, Jens Amend played the compositions for pipe organ in the "Johnann Sebastian Bach House "...Using the variety of tones of the Bach Pipe Organ in the J. S. Bach House as well as the "Mozart-Truhenorgel" in the "Mozartsaal". On Saturday pieces from Georg Böhm, Paul Hindemith and other composers were on the program. Amend had chosen a multi-faceted recording and stood out with brilliant playing. He used unerringly the adequate instrumentation and skilfully set up musical accents..."

"Alsfelder Allgemeine" - Successful combination of pipe organ and violin, concert in the "Stadtkirche" with church musician Jens Amend and violin player Katrin Hasse was accepted with enthusiasm. "The highlight of the evening was the sonata b moll from "Bach-admirer Philipp Wolfrum. The pieces of this composer seem to suite Jens Amend well, because organ, organist, melody and text melted to something unique..."

"Gießener Anzeiger" - Organist Jens Amend gave an fascinating concert in the "Petruskirche" - Impressive scenes from Faust from Peter Eben, Jens Amend created in the Petruskirche not only a fascinating but also diversified concert on the pipe organ, which followed a clever dramaturgy of tones and escalated to Ebens Faust..." " Amend - once again - was the master of pipe organ playing, who could combine all pieces of the evening - not only with Reger! - with great discipline and tremendous transparent lineaments."

"Südhessen am Morgen" - Sounds of another world
"... Amend enjoyed this genre audibly, beautifully and sensitively he sampled unknown lanes of music creators, the presentation satisfied musically , because Amend worked empathetically, concentrated with much esprit." ."...eloquently in the use of tones Jens Amend lead through the "Chorale in a moll" from Cäsar Franck, mastered the musically fascinating opus with all its difficult runs and interpreted the demands of the French composer with accurate articulation..."

"Hessische Niedersächsische Allgemeine" - Realising the Bach Year in a fulminant way
"... Jens Amend is apparently a great talent with hopefully a great future. The enormous technical demands, the clever registration measures on a only middle sized pipe organ with only limited possibilities, choice of time (tempo), articulation and phrasing, all this was handled in the most beautiful of manners..."

"Mannheimer Morgen" - Jens Amend conducts Bachs "Matthäus Passion" in the Dome of Lampertheim/ Standing Ovations. "
...Jens Amend "pulled the strings". The dynamic dramatic of the Matthäus Passion, the variation between soli- and tutti-pieces, the length of the performance alone with two and a half hours needed all the strength possible, to present such an opus in one pour. Amend conducts with firm diction that needs no spectacular effects..."

..-.. Church choir of the Deanery presents itself with the "Krönungsmesse" highly ambitious "... at the most recent concert in the Dome the successful balance impressed between a choir of 50, orchestra and solo players, whom Amend lead with a firm lead and clear diction. The choir manager of the Deanery presented himself in the prelude with the "Linzer Sinfonie" as a orchestra manager who pays attention to accurate cues and precise metric..."

"Gießener Allgemeine"- Organ Player Jens Amend presented a sovereign interpretation of the "Klavierübung, Teil III" from Bach
"... with an impressive interpretation of the Third Part of the "Orgelmesse",Johann Sebastian Bach, Jens Amend took part in a series of concerts on the 250th anniversary of the death of Bach..." "...This artfully built world with its magnificent variety of phrases and stiles, requires highest skills of the interpreter. Skills Jens Amend undoubtedly has und displayed. Technically absolutely flawless he interpreted the challenging score with concentrated ease, which gave justice to the character of the individual phrases."

"Gießener Anzeiger.." - In the tradition of an overwhelming the auditorium - Mendelssons "Paulus"
"... Jens Amend has made his explicit decision. For him the cadence, the basic gesture and with that the expression is the focus of his musical interest. Even more: He and his musicians interpreted the "Paulus" as a musical audio play." "...an assignment which can only be realised when the conductor at the desk has a distinctive image of the sound in mind and claims precisely that..." "...It is clearly visible that Amend is on the best way to develop a strong handwriting..."

"Biedenköpfer Zeitung" - Outstanding performance of choir, orchestra and soloists
"The Creation" - the monumental opus from Haydn left a deep impression in the Church of St. Joseph" ... Jens Amend, who had the complete management, demonstrated that it is also possible to perform sophisticated works of music with lay people..." "The performance was an impressive experience for all lovers of church music and also for all music lovers in general." "... modestly he accepted the applause of the audience in the end - a reservation not necessary in the light of the successful performance."

"Ottobeuer Presse" - A remarkable virtuosity
"... it suggested itself to play J. S. Bachs tremendous opus for pipe organ, the "Es-dur Prelude" with the well known triple fugue - she should demonstrate the trinity of god - on the "Dreifaltigkeitsorgel" (Trinity-pipe-organ). But this opus needs next to all technical perfection a lot of acoustic experience and empathy, to bring the audience closer to the own picture of interpretation. This the young organist managed beautifully." "... with the "Fantasia and Fuge" about "Bach" from Franz Liszt the "Marienorgel" displayed herself. Here the young organist could demonstrate his remarkable virtuosity , which was thanked for by spontaneous applause."

"Gießener Anzeiger" - Pipe Organ Music in context captured and expressed Herfried Menckes student in the "Petruskirche"
"... Johann Sebastian Bach was not represented with a composition, but his name was the musical motive in Franz Liszt's "Prelude and Fugue about Bach". Again and again the four tone motive surfaces out of the sounds. Jens Amend - with the age of 17 the youngest of the interpreters, played the work with confidence, emphatically and he always managed to work towards the Bach phrases fluently."

References

Prof. Gerd Wachowski, Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst, Frankfurt: During his studies I tought Mr Jens Amend in the subject Liturgical Pipe Organ music (backing of the church community and improvisation). During this period I experienced Jens Amend as an intelligent and at the same time sensitive musician, who distinguished himself with outstanding technical abilities, paired with confident musicality and a highly developed sense of artistic discipline. Mr Amend has the ability to improvise in all forms and stiles in matters of any challenge. In my long time as a professor I seldom met such an outstanding increase in performance up to top-class results. His achievements were - not only in the mentioned subject - more than exemplary. I see Mr Amend as a church musician, who will thanks to his great talent and his considerable practical experience will have no problems to establish his own sphere according to his skills. One happy fact is that the mentioned abilities are matched with a friendly musical personality, human warmth and immaculate manners.

Prof. Dr. Martin Sander, Hochschule für Kirchenmusik, Heidelberg Mr Jens Amend is a very talented organist, whose performance is characterised by expressiveness and technical precision. He has a versatile repertoire and already considerable practical experience. He not only has the command of artistic and creative skills but uses them intuitively as well as choosing them consciously .He already has considerable experience in the fields of church music, concerts, work experience and tuition for newcomers. His musical qualities and his mature mastery of the instrument was rewarded over the past years by e. g. the 1st prize International Pipe Organ Contest in Korschenbroich as well as most recently the 1st prize at the International Philipp Wolfrum-Contest in Heidelberg (in which due to the outstanding difference no 2nd prize was distributed).

Siegfried Heinrich, Artistic Director of the International "Bachtage", Festival Concerts and Opera in the "Hersfelder Stiftsruine" I know Mr Amend as an organist and répétiteur since 1994. Since then Mr Amend is invited as an pipe organist to the International "Bachtagen" on a regular basis, also he is invited to join concerts from chamber up to large orchestra instrumentation. Mr Amend has proved his musical and technical dependability in solo concerts with orchestra. The concerts are held on a regular basis in Bad Hersfeld, Frankfurt, Marburg, Kassel and in larger cities of Germany as well as in foreign countries. During a broadcasted TV-church service in October 1999 Jens Amends art of improvisation caused a sensation.