Correio Braziliense Jornal | ​Pedro Almeida | Abril 2022
​Entrevista - Pianista norte-americana encanta vizinhos com música clássica no Lago Sul 
Recém-chegada a Brasília, a pianista norte-americana Jennifer Heemstra ganhou apoio dos vizinhos no Lago Sul para um projeto que divulga música clássica no bairro. Onde as palavras falham, a música fala. Há seis meses em Brasília, a pianista clássica norte-americana Jennifer Heemstra, que ainda não domina o português, encontrou nas teclas do piano uma forma de dialogar com a nova vizinhança. De portas abertas, Jen recebe os vizinhos para concertos intimistas na própria sala de estar, no Lago Sul.

Nascida na cidade de Grand Rapids, em Michigan, nos Estados Unidos, Jennifer Heemstra estudou piano na Universidade Estadual do Michigan e, posteriormente, concluiu um mestrado em música no Cleveland Institute of Music. Como solista e musicista de câmara, se apresentou nos Estados Unidos, Europa, Ásia, Emirados Árabes e, agora, no Brasil. ​ O amor pela música, evidente na devoção acadêmica, se alinhou, também, ao interesse por causas sociais. Além das teclas brancas e pretas, Jennifer comanda duas ONGs: a Kolkata Classics, que atua em Kolkata, na Índia, com aulas de música clássica para crianças e acesso à saúde voltado para mulheres vítimas de tráfico; a Pitch Pipe Foundation leva a melodia para os veteranos de guerra dos Estados Unidos. (full interview)
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Concerto na casa de Jennifer Heemstra: uma ação cultural para reunir a comunidade | Foto: Arquivo pessoal

Interview with Adventures in Syncopation | August 19, 2021

Performing Arts Background: Started piano lessons when I was 8 years old. Started playing clarinet in middle school band and played through sophomore year of high school. Accompanied school choruses on piano (and sang) from grade 5 through grade 12. In middle school, attended Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp for two summers and Interlochen Music Camp for one summer. First paying gig on piano, age 13. 
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How did your performing arts background supercharge your entrepreneurship? Having a marketable skill at a young age, I was able to enter the workforce in my long-term career earlier than most people. From age 13 I was earning money as a musician; learning not only what it took to be a pianist, but also how to market, bill and follow up with clients.
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The study of music made me disciplined, focused and organized. I think that the main ingredients for all successful entrepreneurs are discipline, diligence, and focus. In business you must find something you love and stick to it till you succeed. That same discipline/focus is also critical to practice, performance and learning your instrument. Organization and hustle are critical for any working musician to balance gigs and schedules. These time management skills have served me well as I moved into the business world.  (full article)

Live interview with Marc Djokic |Canada | August 9, 2020

LIVE interview|ASIA Plus 107.0 FM | Dushanbe, Tajikistan | Oct 2019

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Live interview ASIA Plus 107.9 FM in English & Russian languages.
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​Parvoz Magazine | Somon Air | Summer 2019 
Interview with American Piano Player
​Parvoz: Hello, Jennifer! Could you tell us about yourself? A little bit of background, how did you happen to be in Tajikistan?

Jennifer: I grew up in Grand Rapids, Michigan, studied music at Michigan State University and attended graduate school at the Cleveland Institute of Music, a leading conservatory in the USA.  After working as a professional musician in Cleveland for nearly a decade I moved to Rome, Italy and taught English to Italian Generals in the Air Force.  Refreshed from a yearlong hiatus from music I found myself back at the piano, teaching at an international school and performing with opera divas...
​(full article)

LIVE interview on set with Friends FM 91.9
​Kolkata, India|May 1, 2019

The New Indian Express Indulge - April 26, 2019
Interview - Pianist Jennifer Heemstra and violinist Patrick TS Yim to trace the ancient Silk route at their concert From Hessler to Hindustan
​NEXT week, get ready to embark on an aural journey across nations, countries, and continents with the Hessler Street Duo. Comprising pianist Jennifer Heemstra and violinist Patrick TS Yim, the duo in their concert From Hessler to Hindustan will trace the ancient Silk Road, which connected several countries across Asia, Africa, and Europe, to create a channel that facilitated the silk trade as well as the exchange of information between cultures.

The public performance at Goethe-Institut will witness the India premiere of Elena Kats -Chernin’s Eliza Aria, as well as a music piece inspired by the Silk Road,  called Miles upon Miles, composed by Yao Chen and Austin Yip. Alongside, the performance will also include Edvard Grieg’s Sonata for Piano and Violin, a short love song by Mexican composer, Manuel Ponce and The Jazz Suite No 1 by Russian composer, Dmitri Shostakovich. The recital will also be accompanied by artist Viraag Desai’s media art installations.  

(full article)
 PictureDesai, Heemstra, Yim at Kolkata Goethe Institut / Max Mueller Bhavan.


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Heemstra & Yim perform with projected visuals by Desai at Hyatt Regency Kolkata.
PictureGrand opening of Goethe - Institut / Max Mueller Bhavan Park Street location.




​The Telegraph - Feb 8, 2018
Interview -Jennifer Heemstra serves up some cool classical tunes 
What is the hardest part about being a musician?
"Having to do it all at the same time.  Being a musician today not only means practising long hours, you also need to be savvy with social media, leap logistical hurdles in a single bound, be comfortable addressing different audiences, all the while travelling country to country."  (full article)

​Serenade Magazine - Aug 3, 2017
Review - All that Jazz
Jennifer Heemstra, the iconic entrepreneur, pianist and social activist (Yes, I actually said that) of cultural enlightenment and change, who has in three brief years made this city her second home and brought some great American talent to its audiences, presented in the latest of this year’s series, the dramatic and exciting soprano/contralto, Chelsea Coyne (amazing vocal range) in a generous collection of concerts titled “All That Jazz”.  I would strongly advise a deep breath here, there was no other way to put it.  (full article) 
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Hyatt Regency Kolkata, in gowns by fashion sponsor Kommal Sood.
PictureFashion sponsor Jyoti Sachdev Iyer.

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​The Telegraph - May 13, 2017
Review - Many Surprises
Family feuds rarely play out as pleasingly as the one at the Goethe Institut on March 24 did. The Kolkata Classics Club's Jennifer Heemstra brought together three noted musicians to recreate, through one of Brahms's finest chamber works, the 'classic family feud' between the piano on the one hand and the cello, violin and viola on the other. The concert, titled Three Strings and a Hammer, featured Heemstra on the piano, Wendy Case on the violin, Amir Eldan on the cello and Kirsten Docter on the viola; they performed the Quartet for Piano and Strings in G minor, Op. 25.  (full article)
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CIM Notes - Spring 2015

Imagine you’re a classically trained pianist about to perform in front of a crowd that can’t wait to hear your first note. But instead of seats, your audience sits on the floor. Instead of a Steinway, you’re playing on a keyboard you’ve brought with you. And out of the corner of your eye, you can see a heard of water buffalo saunter by.  This was reality for alumna Jennifer Heemstra, who has spent the last year performing classical music all over India. She and her colleagues have performed in everything from the slums and poverty-stricken villages to ballrooms and 1,500-seat theaters packed to the brim. The
one thing that these concerts have in common? Her audiences can’t get enough.  (full article)
LIVE interview on The WGVU Morning Show with Shelley Irwin on October 11, 2016 at 10:45 am EDT
​88.5 FM or stream wgvunews.org. 
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Egypt