Kit Armstrong

Ever since Kit Armstrong set foot on the stages of international venues, he has never ceased to amaze classical music audiences. Hardly any other young artist is well-versed in so many areas, with such a universal upbringing. Described by the New York Times as a “brilliant pianist” who combines “musical maturity and youthful daring in his exceptional playing,” Kit Armstrong has developed a unique artistic approach, naturally combining a profound, intense study of music with other arts, the natural sciences, and mathematics. His repertoire ranges from the dawn of keyboard music in the 16th century with the English Virginalist School up to the music of our time.
Armstrong collaborates with many of the world’s most sought-after conductors, including Christian Thielemann, Herbert Blomstedt, Riccardo Chailly, Kent Nagano, Manfred Honeck, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Mario Venzago, and Robin Ticciati. He has appeared with some of the world’s finest orchestras, including the Vienna Philharmonic, Dresden Staatskapelle, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Gewandhaus Orchestra, NHK Symphony Orchestra, and the Academy of St Martin in the Fields. Recent solo recitals brought him to the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, Munich Prinzregententheater, the Ruhr Piano Festival, Philharmonie de Luxembourg, and Cologne Philharmonie.
An enthusiastic chamber music recitalist, Kit Armstrong has developed close artistic partnerships with other leading instrumental and vocal artists.
Together with Renaud Capuçon he presented the complete Mozart violin sonatas at the Salzburg Mozartwoche Festival and at Berlin’s Boulez Hall. With Christiane Karg, Julian Prégardien, and Benjamin Appl he has performed important Lied repertoire. Edition Peters publishes his compositions.
Commissioners include the Leipzig Gewandhaus and the Musikkollegium Winterthur.
Born in 1992 in Los Angeles, Armstrong studied at the Curtis Institute of Music and at the Royal Academy of Music in London. At 7, he started studying composition at Chapman University and physics at California State University, later also chemistry and mathematics at the University of Pennsylvania and mathematics at the Imperial College of London. He earned a master’s degree in pure mathematics at the University of Paris VI.
Alfred Brendel, who has guided Armstrong as teacher and mentor since 2005, ascribes to him “an understanding of the great piano works that combines freshness and subtlety, emotion and intellect”.
Their relationship was captured in the film Set the Piano Stool on Fir e by Mark Kidel.
In 2021, Kit Armstrong performed at the Ruhr Piano F estival for the 12th time.