Acclaimed Worcester pianist Andrew Armstrong ready for 'electric' concert at BrickBox

Internationally acclaimed Worcester pianist Andrew Armstrong has a flurry of concerts in New England, New York City and South Carolina this month before taking off for Europe at the end of January with an itinerary that includes performances in London, Scotland and the Netherlands.

A busy year is ahead. "That's an understatement. I've got my seat belt buckled," Armstrong said during a recent telephone interview with a dash of relish in his voice. "I'm really excited for the upcoming concerts in the UK and the Netherlands. I really enjoy sort of soaking up the different cultures and adding that to my vocabulary."

But there's also no place like home, and Worcester has been home for Armstrong since 2015. Home is where the heart is — and in this case, it is where his wife, Esty, is from.

And one of the January concerts will be a performance in Worcester at 7:30 p.m. Jan. 24 at the BrickBox Theater at the Jean McDonough Arts Center presented by Music Worcester.

Armstrong also conveyed plenty of enthusiasm about this concert. "I think the atmosphere that night will be really electric. The space will be full and buzzing," he said.

'It was important we celebrate together'

The program will include Armstrong playing a solo arrangement of George Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue," which was written 100 years ago this year.

"We'll be just a few weeks shy of the 100th birthday. I thought it was important we celebrate together," Armstrong said.

The concert brings Armstrong together with German-born cellist Jan Volger and American violinist Kevin Zhu, who Armstrong called friends and "globe-trotting superstars."

Armstrong, Volger and Zhu will each perform solo works before combining to play Tchaikovsky's long, haunting, elegiac Trio in A minor.

Volger will play Bach's famous and expressive Cello Suite No. 1 in G Major, and Zhu will perform Paganini's virtuosic Selected Caprices for violin solo. Volger and Armstrong will also combine to perform Henry Mancini's timeless "Moon River" arranged for cello and piano. "Jan (Volger) put that together. It's just so adoring the way he presents the piece," Armstrong said.

The three will be bringing the program to a couple of other venues as well, but the Music Worcester concert will be the first public performance of the musicians playing the Tchaikovsky Trio together.

"We are three musicians who trust each other implicitly," Armstrong said. At the BrickBox there will be "that sense of everybody on their toes."

The superstar jazz/classical "Rhapsody in Blue" was first performed on Feb. 12, 1924, by Paul Whiteman and His Orchestra with Gershwin on piano in New York. The work was originally written for solo piano and orchestra, but Gershwin also wrote an arrangement just for solo piano. The opening of the orchestral version is famous for the clarinet introduction immediately evoking a sense of the American jazz age. In the solo arrangement the introduction is still there, but it's played by the piano. And throughout the work Gershwin maintains the originally written piano parts while also having the pianist take on the parts of the brass as well.

Technically demanding?

"Hugely," Armstrong said. "The piano is playing a gazillion notes and then the brass."

On the other hand, "I've played it enough so that I can relax and have a blast," he said.

'I've just fallen head over heels in love with this city'

Armstrong has a new album coming out Jan. 26 titled "In Blue," in which he performs works by American composers including Gershwin and "Rhapsody in Blue."

Asked what the composition evokes for him, Armstrong replied, "My mother's parents. That sense of derring-do. A bit of mischief — anything is possible, we're up for it. It's something about his (Gershwin's) outlook. Maybe I romanticize it in the extreme, but that's what I'm connected to when I play that music and it's great company to keep."

One suspects that Armstrong is likely good company, and he has a bit of romantic derring-do in him, as seen by him marrying his Worcester wife and moving here.

"She's a lifer. She grew up in Worcester," Armstrong said. Armstrong is originally from New Canaan, Connecticut. "What's a little distance? I couldn't let her go."

Now that he's here, "I've just fallen head over heels in love with this city," he said.

"I call myself a Worcester resident in spite of the aforementioned concert schedule."

Armstrong and his wife are raising three children in Worcester and "as parents we couldn't be happier," he said. "There are so many wholesome, wonderful uplifting things. We love the schools. The museum (the Worcester Art Museum) is a very special place to visit. We went to the Salisbury Mansion a couple of weeks ago. It blew our minds. Mechanics Hall is one of the most famous halls in the country. It's really more than we could ever ask for. Our kids are meeting cultures from all over the world. It's a beautiful sense of community."

Originally from Michigan, Armstrong moved with his family to Connecticut as a child. He took to the piano early and began winning prizes, then later ventured out on his own and began to get invitations to perform. Praised for his passionate expression and dazzling technique, he has played across Asia, Europe, Latin America, Canada and the United States. He has performed more than 50 concertos with orchestras, and appeared in solo recitals and in chamber music concerts. His successful chamber music career has been marked by frequent collaborations with star violinist James Ehnes. He's been featured on several albums, and besides "In Blue," he said he has "several other recordings in the hopper awaiting release."

In addition to performing, Armstrong has taken the helm as artistic director of USC Beaufort’s Chamber Music Series in Beaufort, S.C., and the Columbia Museum of Art’s Chamber Music on Main in Columbia, S.C. He also founded New Canaan Chamber Music in New Canaan, proving you can go to your old home again and play music. He has recently been appointed artistic director of the Fabbri Chamber Concerts in New York City that are put on in a 17th century Italian library. Armstrong said he wants it to feel like a small intimate neighborhood amid the city.

His South Carolina music directorships could be said to feel like a home away from home. "It's given my life a great sense of purpose and a searing sense of focus," he said.

'A really crucial piece of the puzzle'

But for all the traveling and commitments, Armstrong said he is also mindful of striking a balance for his home life.

"I block off most of the summer to retool and be present," he said. "It's a really crucial piece of the puzzle."

His first performance in Worcester was for Music Worcester in 2021 when he played in a virtual chamber trio concert at Mechanics Hall — as the pandemic still had many venues in lockdown — that also featured Anthony McGill (clarinet) and Jennifer Frautschi (violin). The concert was well received.

Another local performance, though just for the students, was at West Tatnuck Elementary School. "I just got in touch with the teachers and said, 'I'm a parent of kids in the school.'" This performance was also well received. "They care so much about the kids there," Armstrong said in his appreciation of the school.

In the build up to the Jan. 24 Music Worcester concert, Armstrong recently visited the Briarwood Community and Willows at Worcester.

"Another real shared passion that Adrien Finlay (Music Worcester executive director) and his team at Music Worcester have is shared outreach," Armstrong.

At the retirement communities Armstrong has given recitals with some commentary related to the Jan. 24 program.

"There will be those not comfortable being able to come out at night," Armstrong said of residents at the communities. "I think it's really important that the things we do at the concert hall get sent out."

Armstrong said Finlay took him to the BrickBox Theater recently for his first look at the space. He was impressed.

"I love the feel of it. It feels so intimate and current at the same time," he said.

Music Worcester — Andrew Armstrong, piano, Jan Volger, cello, Kevin Zhu, violin

When: 7:30 p.m. Jan. 24

Where: BrickBox Theater at the Jean McDonough Arts Center, 20 Franklin St., Worcester

How much: $55; students $17.50; youth $7.50. musicworcester.org

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Acclaimed Worcester pianist Andrew Armstrong set for BrickBox concert