Sam Armstrong

Biography

Hailed as 'a major new talent' by International Piano and a ‘pianist of splendid individuality’ by The Arts Desk British pianist Sam Armstrong gave his solo debut recitals at the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Carnegie Hall's Weill Recital Hall in New York as well as at the Wigmore Hall in London, and as concerto soloist with the National Symphony of Ecuador.

Strongly drawn to chamber music, Sam has performed with musicians including Elina Buksha, Valeriy Sokolov, Krzysztof Chorleski, Viviane Hagner, Hannah Roberts, Ralph Kirshbaum, Alban Gerhardt and Pablo Barragan. He has appeared at festivals including Aldeburgh, Cheltenham, Krzyzowa Music, Mecklenburg-Vorpommen, Prussia Cove Open Chamber Music, Ravinia and in venues such as Seoul Arts Centre, Esplanade Singapore, Kumho Art Hall Seoul, and Manchester's Bridgewater Hall. He has been broadcast on BBC Radio 3, Radio Suisse-Romande/Espace 2, NPO Radio 4, WQXR New York, WFMT Chicago and Radio New Zealand.

Sam maintains a regular partnership with the soprano Katharine Dain, releasing their first album “Regards sur l’Infini” in November 2020. The disc won the prestigious Edison award in 2021 as well as being chosen as The Guardian’s Classical album of the week. Their second disc “Forget This Night” was chosen as BBC Music Magazine’s Song CD of the month and also received major acclaim from the Times, Gramophone, as well as in the Dutch press NRC, Volkskrant & Trouw. 

Highlights of recent seasons have been recitals at the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, De Doelen Rotterdam and Concertgebouw Brugge with Katharine Dain, Wigmore Hall with violinist Geneva Lewis, Perth Concert Hall with violinist Irène Duval and appearances at the festivals of Krzyzowa, Lammermuir, Bath, Wonderfeel and the International Lied Festival Zeist. 

His own studies were with Helen Krizos in Manchester at the Royal Northern College of Music and subsequently in New York with Richard Goode at Mannes College of Music. He won the most important awards for piano in both institutions: first prize in the RNCM Piano Recital Prize and the Nadia Reisenberg Debut Award from Mannes. He also worked with John O’Conor in Dublin and in masterclasses with Leon Fleisher, Menahem Pressler, Mitsuko Uchida, Murray Perahia and Pierre-Laurent Aimard. He also studied song repertoire extensively with Cristina Stanescu in New York and Roger Vignoles in London.

Passionate about teaching and music education in general, Sam has taught privately in New York and London and previously at Junior Trinity Laban and TU Dublin Conservatoire. He joined Guildhall School of Music and Drama as Senior Tutor in Keyboard Chamber Music in September 2023.