Andrew Armstrong

New Canaan Chamber Music Summer Concert

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Summer family chamber music concert! Tickets are on sale now for the August 8th 4pm INDOOR New Canaan Chamber Music concert by New Canaan native Andrew Armstrong, pianist, and two distinguished musicians, violinist Arnaud Sussmann, a protege of Itshak Perlman, and R.J. Kelley, an accomplished horn and French horn player. The concert will be at the First Presbyterian Church at 178 Oenoke Ridge. A 3pm talk by R.J. Kelley will precede the concert on the history of the horn as a musical instrument and surprising communications device. For tickets, go to www.newcanaanchambermusic.org/tickets.

Andrew Armstrong

‘So Many Families Are Hungering for More Real-World Interactions’: New Canaan Chamber Music Plans May 22 Outdoor Concert

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Andrew Armstrong, an acclaimed concert pianist who graduated from New Canaan High School in 1992, was days into planning a new chamber concert series in his hometown last March when the COVID-19 pandemic hit. A Worcester, Mass. resident, Armstrong had gained confidence in directing the series after doing so successfully for two years in Columbia, S.C. He re-connected with friends and found a handful of locals willing to help get a New Canaan chamber music series off the ground—then in mid-March, schools went remote, theaters and parks were closed, restaurants were pick-up only and face masks were mandated anywhere outside the home. “I felt a combination of, Well, was I this foolish or is it just bad luck?” Armstrong recalled. “And there were several months of real indecision on my part: Am I leaving people twisting in the wind who had expressed a real interest in doing something together, by not doing anything?

Andrew Armstrong

Letter: Chamber Music Trio Led by NCHS Grad ‘Uplifting’

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Exquisite chamber music played by world-class musicians on a beautiful night under the stars. 

The only thing better would be a chance to do this again. 

Last Thursday on the grounds of the First Presbyterian Church of New Canaan, a trio led by virtuoso pianist Andrew Armstrong performed works of Brahms and two lesser-known composers for 150 enthusiasts, the crowd size having been limited by COVID-19 restrictions. It was lively, clever, uplifting, and certainly memorable. 

Andy, a product of the New Canaan High School Class of 1992, performed in close ensemble with the equally talented violinist Tessa Lark and cellist Raman Ramakrishnan. It was their first public performance since lockdowns began in March and their enthusiasm was evident. 

We may indeed have a chance to do this again. Andy Armstrong has offered to perform chamber music concerts here in New Canaan several times a year, and planning is underway. Libby and I often mourn the fact that so much homegrown talent leaves after graduation to grace other towns and cities around the country and world.

Andrew Armstrong

‘I Love This Town’: Pianist Andrew Armstrong Plans Chamber Concert Series in New Canaan

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Any time a professional engagement has him traveling to Stamford or Manhattan, or to the Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts in Westchester County, Andrew Armstrong said, he finds himself detouring into his hometown of New Canaan. His star fast-rising even before graduating from New Canaan High School in 1992, the renowned concert pianist and Worcester, Mass. resident said he drives through town to “go down memory lane” and has felt a strong pull to reconnect with old friends. 

A husband and father to three kids and two dogs, Comet and Dooker, Armstrong recently took over as creative director of the Columbia Museum of Art’s “Chamber Music on Main” series in Columbia, S.C. Through it, Armstrong said, he “got to experience firsthand what it’s like to have truly meaningful and deep relationships with music-lovers” in ways that studio work or playing one-off concerts don’t offer. “You know that old saying, ‘You can never go home again’? I have had this really enjoyable career going around the globe playing music for people.