Peninsula Music Festival Favorite Makes Winter Appearance

Photo by Olivier Wilkins.

Pianist Andrew Armstrong, a favorite with the Peninsula Music Festival (PMF), will perform as part of the Festival’s February Fest on Feb. 16. The 2 pm concert will be held at Shepherd of the Bay Lutheran Church in Ellison Bay, the winter home for the PMF’s Steinway Concert Grand.

“He is a fabulous pianist,” says Sharon Grutzmacher, executive director of PMF. “He has a very special connection with the audience.”

Praised by critics for his passionate expression and dazzling technique, Armstrong has delighted audiences with his performances worldwide. He has made notable appearances at the Carnegie Hall, Grand Hall of the Moscow Conservatory, and National Philharmonic Hall in Warsaw, with such conductors as Günther Herbig, Itzhak Perlman and Stanisław Skrowaczewski.

As a chamber musician, he has performed with the Alexander, American, and Manhattan String quartets, and as a member of the Amelia Piano Trio, Caramoor Virtuosi and the Jupiter Symphony Chamber Players.

When his debut CD, featuring Rachmaninoff’s “Second Piano Sonata” and Mussorgsky’s “Pictures at an Exhibition,” was released, the critic of American Record Guide wrote, “I have heard few pianists play [the Sonata], recorded or in concert, with such dazzling clarity and confidence.”

The program for the concert is Fryderyk Chopin: Scherzo No. 1 in B minor, op. 20; Claude Debussy: Estampes (Prints), 1903; Franz Liszt: Transcendental Etudes No. 9 and 10; Serge Rachmaninov: Piano Sonata No. 2 in B-flat minor, op. 36 (original version 1913). There will be a brief intermission and a reception after to meet Armstrong.

PMF presents a nine-concert symphony season in August each year at the Door Community Auditorium in Fish Creek. Tickets are on sale for Armstong’s recital ($25 general admission, $10 for children) and the entire 2013 season. To reserve tickets call 920.854.4060, stop by 3045 Cedar Street in Ephraim or visit http://www.musicfestival.com.