Industry Endorsements

Recognition from legendary composers and music educators

“To me he is the modern-day Chopin or Liszt – Bach, Beethoven. He’s all of those guys wrapped up into one... He just happens to love video games!”

— Tommy Tallarico, Composer/Video Games Live Co-Founder (quoted in The Cleveland Plain Dealer by Andrea Simakis, 2006)

“We did an outreach program for disadvantaged kids, and I asked him to play a couple little selections from video games, and you should’ve seen how their eyes lit up, which, in a way, is what used to happen when Liszt was performing or Beethoven or Mozart. They would take the most popular tunes from the opera and compose variations on those themes. Martin is just using what people relate to.”

— Paul Schenly, Head of Piano Department, Cleveland Institute of Music (quoted in The Cleveland Plain Dealer by Andrea Simakis, 2006)

“He’s achieved notoriety on the Internet as the blindfolded artist... More than 4 million people have heard him in this venue... has a traditional side as well... talent has manifested itself through discipline and hard work... playing for an audience that he helped create.’”

— Paul Schenly, Head of Piano Department, Cleveland Institute of Music, Steinway & Sons Magazine (Summer 2006)

“I think he could make a huge name for himself by playing pieces on the piano that are pop culturally significant, because all of us thirtysomethings grew up on this stuff... More people know that ‘Super Mario Brothers’ song than any piece by Stravinsky.”

— Tommy Tallarico, Composer/Video Games Live Co-Founder (quoted in The Cleveland Plain Dealer by Andrea Simakis, 2006)