"Taka Kigawa, a gifted and daring pianist who specializes in 20th-century and contemporary music, takes on not just some Boulez, but all Boulez: the complete solo piano works."

"Kigawa, who has already toured Elliott Carter’s complete piano oeuvre, has been getting rave reviews for his non-chronological approach to Boulez."

"Kigawa, cuya sensibilidad rítmica es de veras pasmosa, se mostró como un verdadero maestro. (Kigawa , whose rhythmic sensibility is truly astonishing, proved to be a true master.)"

"Taka Kigawa haya sido un experto en las negociaciones entre las restricciones y las libertades. (Taka Kigawa as an expert negotiator between freedom and restriction.)"

"Su interpretación requiere, como dijo Boulez en una conversación con András Varga, “manos de hierro en guantes de terciopelo”, y exactamente así lo transmitió el formidable Taka Kigawa: con extrema precisión y tersura. (Its interpretation requires, as Boulez said in a conversation with Andras Varga, “hands of steel in velvet gloves,” and that’s exactly like the formidable Taka Kigawa performed it: with extreme precision and smoothness.)"

"After any concert by Taka Kigawa, one feels a sense of rare elation. Other young pianists may be equally brilliant, technically as adept. But Mr. Kigawa has an extraordinary affinity with music which is anything but ordinary. Whether he plays two hours of Bach or two hours of Cage, one never feels that he finds it urgent to perform, or that he is experimenting. Rather, there a molecular attraction between the music and the performer."

"The pianist Taka Kigawa, playing at Le Poisson Rouge, manifested wonder and joy in his performance of demanding works. A phenomenon, there's no denying that he's something special."

"Mr Kigawa did a spectacular job of reminding us all that modern personalities and harmonies can be rendered in such a way that is both dramatic and meaningful. Carter’s music, while well suited to the slightly unfocused vibe of LPR, sounds just as grand – beautiful, even – in a formal recital hall. The people and the setting might change, but the extraordinary notes will always flow from one to the other in the invisible pattern of their seemingly random existence."

"Every program played by Mr. Kigawa is an adventure into the unknown–and part of the joy is not knowing more, is letting the mysteries unravel by themselves."

"All this (complete piano pieces by Elliott Carter) was fantastically well played by Taka Kigawa."

"Taka Kigawa es un virtuoso descomunal. (Taka Kigawa is a stupendous virtuoso.)"

"Throughout, the pianist maintained a fluid, singing tone and a steady, determined tempo which allowed the musical ideas to present themselves naturally."

"Mr. Kigawa’s Debussy is carefully shaded and texturally transparent. He knows how to make this music sparkle."

"How difficult to say that John Cage piano music should “sing.” But Mr. Kigawa, that extraordinary pianist who, like the Koh-I-Noor Diamond, shows up in rare places and radiates all that he touches, did make the music perhaps not very challenging."

"The youthful Japanese pianist offered a program of Debussy, Liszt and Chopin with a terrific mix of the elegant and the sublime."

"Kigawa demonstrated his ease moving between disparate styles, techniques, and eras. If (Le) Poisson Rouge was looking to make a statement, it succeeded, kicking off its fall classical schedule with a barnburner, one of the finest solo piano recitals I’ve ever witnessed."

Taka Kigawa's New York City recital in 2010 was chosen as one of the best concerts of the year by The New York Times

"The most satisfying aspect of Taka Kigawa’s performance at Le Poisson Rouge on Monday evening was the sense of clarity and apparent ease he brought to a parade of harmonically thorny and, in some cases, texturally dense piano works."

"Thirty minutes before a one-hour performance, the room was over-filled, standing room only. Standees stood in front of other standees, in front of …well, you get the picture. This was a standout evening. Nor was this a single-minded audience. Young people, families, older composers, critics, the curious and the eccentric. All had made their appearance in Le Poisson Rouge for Taka Kigawa, a slight, modest t-shirted pianist about to plunge into the most difficult music of the past 80 years."

"In the 15 months that this club (Le Poisson Rouge) has been open, I have not seen it as crowded for a classical performer as it was for Mr. Kigawa."

"His famed take on Bach’s “The Art of the Fugue” is ebullient and audacious."