.png){kind=logo}
PIANO RECITAL BY KIT ARMSTRONG
SAINT-SAËNS: MASTER OF THE MINIATURE
SUNDAY 6 JULY 2025
5:00PM
VICTORIA CONCERT HALL
A rare chance to experience the dazzling intellect and poetic touch of pianist Kit Armstrong, hailed by The Guardian as “an extraordinary musician and thinker.” A protégé of Alfred Brendel and a polymath equally at home in mathematics and music, Armstrong brings fresh insight and crystalline brilliance to a rich selection of Saint-Saëns’ miniature masterpieces—from the fiendish Danse macabre and evocative Africa, to elegant waltzes, characterful dances, and sublime elegies.
In this richly varied recital, Armstrong reveals the wit, charm, and craftsmanship of a composer often known more for his large-scale works—but here, distilled into gems of brevity and brilliance.
An unmissable evening of elegance, colour, and virtuosity.
PROGRAMME
Saint-Saëns – “Master of the Miniature”
Danse macabre, Op. 40
Menuet et valse, Op. 56
Mazurka, Op. 66
Gavotte, Op. 90 No. 3
Valse langoureuse, Op. 120
Bourrée, Op. 135 No. 4
Valse gaie, Op. 139
Africa, Op. 89
Les cloches de Las Palmas, Op. 111 No. 4
Elegie, Op. 135 No. 5
Elegie #2, Op. 160
Fugues, Op.161 Nos. 1 and 6
Feuillet d’album, Op. 169
(Programme subject to change at the artist’s discretion)
THE ARTIST
KIT ARMSTRONG, piano
Ever since Kit Armstrong entered the global music stage twenty years ago, his activities have exerted an enduring fascination upon music lovers. He performs recitals in major series, appears with the world’s finest orchestras, and has developed close artistic partnerships with leading instrumentalists and vocalists. He has held artist-in-residence appointments incorporating a wide spectrum of musical formats, combining his roles as composer, pianist, conductor, and organist. His project Expedition Mozart, traversing Mozart’s music in various genres with an international group of distinguished chamber musicians and soloists, is a main feature at prestigious festivals and venues.
Armstrong came to classical music through composition at the age of five. He has since created a broad oeuvre of vocal, instrumental, chamber, and symphonic works, many of which have been commissioned by notable European cultural institutions. His compositions are published by Edition Peters.
Armstrong’s piano recordings include the albums Bach, Ligeti, Armstrong (2013) and Liszt: Symphonic Scenes (2016) on Sony Classical, various live recitals on DVD, such as Bach’s Goldberg Variations and its Predecessors at the Concertgebouw Amsterdam (Unitel, 2017), Wagner - Liszt - Mozart at the Bayreuth Margravial Opera House (C-Major, 2019), and 1520-2020: A Musical Odyssey (Damis Films, 2023), a double CD dedicated to a panorama of works by William Byrd and John Bull: The Visionaries of Piano Music (2021) on Deutsche Grammophon, and Mozart’s violin sonatas with Renaud Capuçon (2023).
Born in 1992 in California, USA, Armstrong pursued undergraduate studies in physics at California State University, chemistry and mathematics at the University of Pennsylvania and mathematics at Imperial College London. Alfred Brendel has guided Armstrong as a musical mentor since 2005. In 2008, he earned a bachelor’s degree in music at the Royal Academy of Music, London, and in 2012 a master’s degree in pure mathematics at the University of Paris VI.
In 2012, Kit Armstrong purchased the Church of Sainte-Thérèse in Hirson, France, and transformed it into a hall for concerts and exhibitions, and outreach. This cultural centre has become home to interdisciplinary projects, including the yearly Semaine de la Voix, reaching a regional as well as cosmopolitan public.
