"With Mr. Tierra's focused artistry, there was no noise, simply music. He is, as they say, the real deal."
–Rorianne Schrade, New York Concert Review
"Tierra from the get go was performing like a seasoned artist. His playing was so natural you tended to forget he was performing as you were being drawn deeper and deeper in to the music.
It was significant that during the gentler moments of this piece the audience was extremely quiet. You could hear no rustling of programs or shuffling of feet because people were listening so intensely. An audience can applaud very politely, but this degree of silence was a tribute to how Tierra gave us more substance than we normally hear in this work, and the audience responded accordingly.
During his performance, he involved us so completely in the music (Brahms Paganini Variations), the considerable technical difficulties almost went unnoticed. Of course we can never understate the inherent difficulties in this work, but Tierra's mastery was so complete, it almost seemed easy. This was simply one of the best performances of this work I have ever heard."
"Pianist Chetan Tierra, Magic and Mastery!"
– Lyn Bronson, Peninsula Reviews
"Chetan displayed his crystalline technique in exploring daring contrasts of dynamic range and extreme musical colors”
– Josef Sekon, Aptos Times
"Given his hot-blooded performance of a technically chilling Prokofiev concerto, which Tierra dispatched while fighting off a 103 degree fever. It's easy to understand why he keeps clearing competitive hurdles.
Tierra handled its challenges – leaping note clusters, pointillist flashes and tintinnabulating chords – with fire and polish. The audience gave him a standing ovation."
– Richard Scheinin, San Jose Mercury News
"Tierra... knocked our socks off."
– Lyn Bronson, Peninsula Reviews
"...he demonstrated an impressive ability to shade and shape the musical line with a wide variety of colorful sounds… wowed us with lovely shades of colorful dynamics in a range from ppp to fff as he spun pure magic."
– Lyn Bronson, Peninsula Reviews
"Chetan Tierra is one of today's most talented emerging concert pianists and embodies the instrument with his fluidity, power and emotion. His pianissimos were definitively whisper-kissed as his fingers seemingly floated over the keys; his fortissimos were melodiously strong and powerful.”
– Jeff Franck, North County Times
"Tierra held piano lovers on the edge of their seats."
Chris Waddington, The Times-Picaynne New Orleans
"These works can sound like musical illustrations in other hands, but Tierra avoided the usual sound effects to conjure abstract bliss…"
"This astounding piece needs a player who can deliver everything from celeste-like tinkling to rhythmic bombs. Tierra did it all with unerring musicality."
–Chris Waddington, The Times-Picaynne New Orleans