Reviews
The second half started with a bang, in the shape of John Kenny's virtuoso
unaccompanied sonata. Going through the whole range of trombone technique including
micro-tones, multiphonics, inhaled tone and circular breathing, the performance was
musically and technically awesome!
The Trombonist
TNT's fast-moving production Tempest Now is wonderfully lifted by the spell
of John Kenny's spare, atmospheric score. Would that music and theatre were always
such charmed companions.
Yorkshire Evening Post
Premiering John Maxwell Geddes's "Leo, Dreaming ..." for trombone and tape,
Mr. Kenny displayed amazing virtuosic skills.
The Glasgow Herald
John Kenny ... at minimal notice gave a wondrously assured reading of Jacob
Druckman's "Animus and I" ... a compellingly virtuosic performance.
The Times
John Kenny - a technical phenomenon with touches of James Galway.
Het Vrieje Volk, Rotterdam
John Kenny was terrific in Xenakis' "Keren" for solo trombone.
The Glasgow Herald
Kenny's own solo sonata was the technical tour de force of the
evening.
The Guardian
Mr. Kenny himself led off with Berio's Sequenza 5, fifth in the series begun
in 1958 which explore the limits of solo instruments. This was a virtuoso
performance accomplished with wit and style.
The Scotsman
The deep-throated braying of the carnyx, a Celtic war trumpet, conjures
dreadful visions. It is an ominous rumbling from the deepest, darkest bowels of the
earth; it is the scream of a cosmic wind in the farthest reaches of the universe;
it is a demonic jeer from beyond the grave. The broad spectrum of notes and
nightmares that it conjures is due to the talent of John Kenny....he coaxes an
amazing array of textures, and sensations, from this instrument, with a range of
over five octaves.
The Herald, Glasgow