Sam Armstrong

© Andrej Grilc

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.

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 and Ravinia.
Sam maintains a longstanding partnership with the soprano Katharine Dain, releasing their first
album “Regards sur l’Infini” in November 2020. The disc won the Edison Klassiek debut 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 the BBC Music Magazine’s Song CD of the month in January
2024 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 for four years 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.

Sam is currently Senior Tutor in Keyboard Chamber Music and Professor of Piano at the Guildhall
School of Music and Drama in London.