Sam Armstrong (piano)
English Pianist Sam Armstrong has performed across Europe, Asia and North America as recitalist, chamber musician and orchestral soloist. He has performed at the Royal Festival and Wigmore Halls in London, the Concertgebouw Amsterdam (as part of New Masters Series), Bridgewater Hall in Manchester, Kumho Art Hall in Seoul, Korea and made his New York solo recital debut at Carnegie Hall's Weill Recital Hall in January 2009, as winner of the Nadia Reisenberg Recital Award.
He recently made his South American debut with performances of the Schumann Concerto with the National Symphony of Ecuador conducted by Emmanuel Siffert and made his solo recital debut at the Wigmore Hall in London in April 2011 as an award winner of the Kirckman Concert Society. His performances have been broadcast on BBC Radio, French Television, Radio Suisse-Romande/Espace 2, Radio New Zealand, Radiofusau Portugesa and WQXR New York. He also performed as concerto soloist with the RNCM Symphony Orchestra and the Orquestra Nacional do Porto in Portugal.
Sam has been a top prizewinner in national and international competitions including the Beethoven Society of Europe Competition in London (2003) and the Porto International Piano Competition in Portugal (2004). He was also laureate of the Epinal International Piano Competition in France (2001) and in 2007 was among the last six pianists in the prestigious Concours Clara Haskil in Switzerland. He was also the only British competitor accepted into the 2009 Leeds International Piano Competition, where he reached the second stage. He was invited to Ravinia's Steans Institute (Chicago) in 2006 & 2007 and has also attended IMS Prussia Cove in Cornwall as a student and class pianist, as well as Open Chamber Music in September.
Sam recently completed his studies at Mannes College of Music in New York where for four years he was the only student of renowned pianist Richard Goode. There he earned a Master's Degree and Professional Studies Diploma and was awarded the Newton Swift Piano Award upon graduation. He previously studied with Helen Krizos for several years in Manchester at the Royal Northern College of Music, and he also worked with John O'Conor in Dublin. He also performed in masterclasses with Leon Fleisher, Mitsuko Uchida, Menahem Pressler, Murray Perahia, Pierre‐Laurent Aimard, Stephen Hough and Mstislav Rostropovich.
Sam is extremely grateful for invaluable support he has received from Aldeburgh Residencies, the Else and Leonard Cross Charitable Trust, the Philharmonia Orchestra/Martin Musical Scholarship Fund, MBF Music Education Fund, Mannes College, the Wingate Foundation, the Goldsmith Foundation and the Solti Foundation. Sam recently gave performances with chamber ensemble Zara at Esplanade in Singapore to celebrate the Schumann anniversary, reviewed in the Straits Times as "the best chamber concert of the year".
Highlights of 2011 include solo recitals and chamber music collaborations at the Wigmore Hall and St John’s Smith Square, London, St George's Bristol, the Aldeburgh Festival, Les Heures Musicales du Haut-Anjou in France, the Embassy Series in Washington DC and at the Festpiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommen in Germany.