“Pohjonen boasts a dazzling keyboard technique and, even more impressively, a broad and varied textural palette that allows him to shade his performances with great subtlety.”
San Francisco Chronicle, February 2011

'A beautifully shaped and unfussy account of immaculate articulation and of crystalline quality that pointed to a major emerging talent.'
Yorkshire Post, October 2010

'This young man is a beast, a daunting player... tonal colours had brilliance – gleaming lines tripped along like bubbling streams, little squeezed-out flourishes casually adorned the ends of phrases... an impressive and fearless performance.'
San Jose Mercury News, August 2010

'Apparent immediately were Pohjonen's capacities for clarity, color, and strength of line, the fluidity of transition most impressive. His staccati ring with visceral articulation, and he can apply the velvet paw to elicit, espressivo, a singing legato.'
Classical Music Guide, August 2010

'Pohjonens mitreißende Interpretation riss das Publikum zu einem langen Schlussapplaus hin. Eine Zugabe gab es trotzdem nicht – das einzige Manko in einem überzeugenden Programm.'
Ruhr Nachrichten, June 2010

'Juho Pohjonen’s account of Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No.1 fully merited the massive applause. Eliciting all the bravura of Beethoven ventilated with the spirit of Mozart, the first movement and its cadenza’s cascading brilliance were utterly delightful.'
Daily Echo, February 2010 (Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra)

'Pohjonen plays with a luminous virtuosity and detailed, crisp ideas. He shaped phrases delightfully in the finale.' [Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 3]
Atlanta Journal Constitution, July 2009 (Atlanta Symphony Orchestra)

'Juho Pohjonen (the first pianist after Bronfman to tackle the concerto) knocked off this incredibly difficult solo part with calm, almost cavalier confidence. His fingers flew and occasionally his long hair flapped. But otherwise he remained unflappable... deadly accurate.' [Salonen Piano Concerto]
LA Times, July 2009 (LA Philharmonic)

'Juho Pohjonen performed Chopin’s Piano concerto No.2 with sparkling bravura. The tuneful first movement, endowed with immaculately fluid playing and matched by Willen’s high energy direction of the BSO, bowed out to Pohjonen’s poetically inspired Larghetto with a delicious and raptly romantic ambience. Again, in the finale, his liquid finger work packed effortless grace into a brilliant conclusion.'
Daily Echo, October 2008 (Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra)

'If we needed proof that exciting new talent is in the pipeline, there was the marvelous American debut of Juho Pohjonen at Weill Recital Hall. Mr. Pohjonen, a painfully shy and skinny 24-year-old Finn who could pass for 14, offered a formidable mixed program, topped by thrilling accounts of two fiendishly difficult works by a fellow Finn, Esa-Pekka Salonen.'
New York Times, December 2004

'With a Shy Exuberance, a Fresh New Face Comes to America

Everything about his recital was formidable. One reason his debut demanded attention was that his adventurous program made news from first (a rhapsodic Fantasy in C minor attributed to Mozart but completed by Maximilian Stadler) to last (two stunningly difficult works by the Finnish composer and conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen).