Concert review Ice XVIII, 12 März 2022 
"The duo Kaja Polivaeva (piano) and Nathan Ott (drums), with their "Project IceXVIII" played a fascinating concert. The sensitivity of the two musicians, their communication made the audience feel the landscapes of the North. The northern European composers Peteris Vasks, Vladimir Kobekin, Rodion Teschedrin, Martin Torp, Philipp Kronbichler could hardly have wished for this better. A very successful example of how music that is usually shoved into the "classical" drawer develops a life of its own through this unusual instrumentation. Chapeau!"  Burkhard Weituschat, Kladower Forum, Berlin 2022

Kaja produces a warm and at the same time clear sound on the piano, 
that immediately draws you in!"  
Prof. Rainer Böhm, jazz pianist, composer and arranger, 2019 
der einen sofort in den Bann zieht!“  
Prof. Rainer Böhm, Jazzpianist, Komponist und Arrangeur, 2019

"Unruh also inspires with new music", Festival Saarbrücker Sommermusik 
"The Rathausfestsaal was very well attended on Friday evening when the Duo Unruh gave its concert as part of the Saarbrücken Summer Music. According to the ensemble's name, cellist Dina Bolshakova and pianist Kaja are probably more comparable to a technical balance wheel, i.e. the flywheel of a small clockwork, because they make music as a perfect unit, effortlessly moving with verve through sound worlds of past and present.
Especially the mixed program with classical and new music delighted the audience, technical perfection always served to shape the music.
This was audible right at the beginning of the evening in the demanding Sonata in A major by Luigi Boccherini (1743-1805), which the latter composed as a cello virtuoso for his own use.
The audience then heard the world premiere of "Flüchtige Gedanken," a work by Cologne-based composer and librettist Martin Brenne, born in 1984. Taking the title as his starting point, he musically translated the process of pondering: Restless brooding, remembering, pondering circling around oneself, ingenious ideas - the dialogue of musical thoughts of both instruments was comprehensible for the listeners, because the material was processed in a very varied way. The duo excellently worked out the dynamic, tonal and tonal contrasts of the cello and piano parts, which were created on an equal footing. One can look forward to Brenne's next opus.
This was followed by "Variations on a Theme by Rossini" by Niccolò Paganini (1782-1840). Finally, the Sonata Op. 6 "Via dolorosa Ebraica" by Don Jaffé (*1933) was heard, which showed the seriousness of its theme: instead of the Passion of Christ, Jaffé set the Passion of the Jews to music.
The audience was simply thrilled, and bravos rang out, so that the two musicians thanked them with a small encore. It was their third concert at Saarbrücken Summer Music. Should they return in 2019, the hall will surely be full again."
Josefine Hoffmann, Saarbrücker Zeitung, Concert from 10.8.2018

Festival "Saarbrücker Sommermusik"  
"The duoUNRUH was now a guest at the Saarbrücken Summer Music for the second time. The result was an exciting concert evening that captivated the audience from the very beginning. The program presented the most diverse facets of musical sensations. From Hindemith's Variations on "A Frog He Went A Courting," which they interpreted with equal parts wit and a sense for the offbeat constellations of Hindemith's movement technique, to the contemplation in Arvo Pärt's "Spiegel im Spiegel," the program spanned a wide range. Especially the heart of the evening, Shostakovich's great cello sonata, whose long breath the two realized with technical perfection and an interpretative creative power that one cannot necessarily expect from such a young ensemble, will be remembered.
Thomas Altpeter, artistic director of the festival "Saarbrücker Sommermusik" Concert from 4.8.2017

"Black Snow - Nature Morte ". Standing ovation for two exceptional artists with their WGT debut 2017  
The "duoUNRUH" had chosen its WGT debut at Whitsun in Leipzig in the Alte Handelsbörse in front of the audience of the WGT Musik Kammer with four works for the instrumentation violoncello and piano very appropriately in the context of the special chamber music series. The contrasting compositions of the colorful evening were presented with a fine sense of dramaturgy and tonal refinement. Arvo Pärt's "Fratres" and "Spiegel im Spiegel" framed the approximately 1-hour program, which provided a great stylistic tension with the sonata by Dmitry Shostakovich and a composition by the Berlin composer Martin Torp. 
The two artists thrilled the audience with their music, their strong stage presence, sensitive interplay and technically flawless playing and brought them to standing ovations. Bravo!
The WGT Music Chamber is looking forward to more concerts by the international ensemble in the Festival of Black Romantic Figures.
Lukas Dreyer, Cellist and Artistic Director WGT Music Chamber, 4.06.2017

The concert in the House of Culture and Science in Nocosia, Cyprus 2017
"Das Programm von Kaя umfasste klassische Kompositionen sowie Werke moderner Komponisten. Der Pianistin zeigte außerordentliche Kraft, Energie und Temperament, behielt jedoch stets die Kontrolle."

"Something like the concert of the duo UNRUH in the sold-out Spiegelsaal is not often offered even in the capital. The cleverly and not without courage to take risks compiled program consisted exclusively of works composed between 1914 and the year 2000. The two young musicians managed the feat of not only convincing the large audience with a purely modern program, but also of literally enthralling them. Their music was precise, transparent and unpretentious, and they managed entirely without any outwardly showy overpowering effects. Arvo Pärt's famous pieces "Fratres" and "Spiegel im Spiegel" (Mirror in the Mirror), both of which were played in a beautifully intimate and simple manner, served as the program's calming points. The same was true of Ravel's "Deux mélodies hébraiques," which was heard in an effective transcription of the duet. A first highlight of the concert was the Sonata for Cello and Piano by composer Martin Torp, born in 1957. This "light-flooded" and entertaining work captivated with its beauty of sound and organic flow - a good example that even today music is written that can spontaneously please a wide audience (without falling into superficiality or copying styles). The program concluded with Dmitri Shostakovich's Sonata op. 40, a piece that is difficult in many respects and requires enormous creative power and great virtuosic skill from the performers. Cellist Dina Bolshakova and Kaя on the piano proved here that they have both. With no signs of strain or fatigue, they mastered all the cliffs of this masterpiece, composed in 1934, with aplomb and musical conviction."   
Michael Sommer, music reviewer
Concert review, Spiegelsaal of Clärchens Ballhaus, 23.4.2017

"We are impressed by the emotional passion and technical virtuosity with which duoUNRUH performs works from a wide variety of eras. It is always an experience to hear and see the two musicians perform. Their music gets under your skin!"Klaus Karwat, organizer and gallery owner. Gallery Gondwana, concert review, 2017

"On March 17, 2017 the duoUNRUH surprised me with an exemplary performance of my Sonata for Cello and Piano, composed in 2000, at the Berlin Akademie Parterre - only one month after receiving the demanding score. The two musicians Dina Bolshakova and Kaя had achieved an absolutely exemplary level of interpretation in this short time independently and only on the basis of the score - i.e. even without further instructions or corrections on my part. Such a masterly performance is otherwise rarely found even among professional musicians."
Martin Torp, Composer

"Kaleidoscope for Cello and Piano" is what the two musicians Dina Bolshakova and Kaя call their program. It was truly a fascinating kaleidoscope of sound that could be heard at their concert on September 14, 2014 at the "Salonmusik" in the café "eßkultur" in Körnerpark. Confidently and expressively they interpreted contemporary music by Schnittke, Webern, Arvo Pärt and other modern composers. From very gentle pizzicati on the cello to powerful piano chords, the sound spectrum of the two great musicians extended."
Paul Schwingenschlögl, trumpeter, composer, artistic director of Summer Music in Körnerpark, 2014

Review at "das Orchester" 1/2013 excerpts to" Conventus".
"(...)various accelerations and in general dynamic and difficulty increases - up to the more convincing solo works Conventus (for piano, composed in 2009, published in 2012) and Stravinskana (published in 2012). Both violinist Nowicka and the invited pianists Pola Lazar, Milena Antoniewicz, Jennifer Hymer, Kaja and Michael Krężlewski come up with focused and audibly mature interpretations. However, the range in compositional demand is large, especially in the accompanying parts. Thus we have with Conventus a stringently executed instrumental portrait that exploits and atmospherically contrasts the various tonal registers of the grand piano."
Martin Morgenstern, music journalist (CD review, Das Orchester, 1/2013)

"Conventus" for piano solo is played beautifully by pianist Kaя. One can imagine the similarity to creating a very beautiful sculpture. The listener could and should imagine flying through the air, as a musical space is created by carving out a low, middle, and high register on a piano.  This imagery is achieved through techniques such as clusters and faint minimalistic characteristics. Natural and spatial elements are further emphasized by sustaining tones through the pedals. This emotional, expressive, powerful work is full of imagination."
Gary Fitelberg, Musikjournalist
CD-Review, Polish Music Center, University of Southern California , 2012