In Blue Andrew Armstrong

• Aaron Jay Kernis (b. 1960): Before Sleep and Dreams:
• 1 Kernis: Before Sleep and Dreams: I. Before 04:44
• 2 Kernis: Before Sleep and Dreams: II. Play Before Lullaby 03:12
• 3 Kernis: Before Sleep and Dreams: III. Lullaby 08:24
• 4 Kernis: Before Sleep and Dreams: IV. Lights Before Sleep 02:19
• 5 Kernis: Before Sleep and Dreams: V. Before Sleep and Dreams 06:33
• Julia Perry (1924 - 1979): Prelude:
• 6 Perry: Prelude 01:55
• George Gershwin (1898 - 1937): Three Preludes:
• 7 Gershwin: Three Preludes: No. 1, Allegro ben ritmato e deciso 01:42
• 8 Gershwin: Three Preludes: No. 2, Andante con moto e poco rubato 04:22
• 9 Gershwin: Three Preludes: No. 3, Allegro ben ritmato e diciso 01:20
• Andrew Armstrong: She Fell for a Flyfisher:
• 10 Armstrong: She Fell for a Flyfisher 05:36
• George Gershwin: I Got Rhythm:
• 11 Gershwin: I Got Rhythm 01:21
• William Grant Still (1895 - 1978): Three Visions:
• 12 Still: Three Visions: No. 1, Dark Horseman 01:26
• 13 Still: Three Visions: No. 2, Summerland 04:45
• 14 Still: Three Visions: No. 3, Radiant Pinnacle 05:00
• George Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue:
• 15 Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue 16:22
• Total Runtime 01:09:01

Info for In Blue

The American pianist Andrew Armstrong has made his first recording for Rubicon: a fascinating recital of American piano music. The great George Gershwin is on the programme with the 3 Preludes as well as "I Got Rhythm" and his most popular work, the dazzling "Rhapsody in Blue", written 100 years ago. Julia Perry and William Grant Still, two African-American composers, are also represented. Aaron Jay Kernis' "Before Sleep and Dreams" is a five-movement suite from 1990, modelled on Schumann's "Kinderszenen" and Debussy's "Children's Corner". Finally, Armstrong's own composition "She Fell for a Flyfisher" is a sparkling miniature.

Andrew Armstrong, piano

Andrew Armstrong
Praised by critics for his passionate expression and dazzling technique, pianist Andrew Armstrong has delighted audiences across Asia, Europe, Latin America, Canada, and the United States, including performances at Alice Tully Hall, Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, London’s Wigmore Hall, Prague’s Rudolfinum, the Grand Hall of the Moscow Conservatory, and Warsaw’s National Philharmonic.

Andrew’s orchestral engagements across the globe have encompassed a vast repertoire of more than 60 concertos with orchestra. He has performed with such conductors as Peter Oundjian, Itzhak Perlman, Günther Herbig, Stefan Sanderling, Jean-Marie Zeitouni, and Stanislaw Skrowaczewski, and has appeared in solo recitals and in chamber music concerts with the Ehnes, Elias, Alexander, American, and Manhattan String Quartets, and as a member of the Caramoor Virtuosi, Boston Chamber Music Society, Seattle Chamber Music Society, and the JupiterSymphony Chamber Players.

Andrew’s upcoming 2023-24 season looks especially fun: solo recitals in Glasgow, Scotland and in Norwich, England; concerts with the Barbican String Quartet in the UK & EU; violin recitals with James Ehnes at London’s Wigmore Hall and at Ann Arbor’s University of Michigan; more violin recitals with Arnaud Sussmann in Hong Kong; Chamber Music in Halifax, NS & Portland, ME; Beethoven’s Emperor Concerto with the South Carolina Philharmonic; release of Andrew’s solo album featuring Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue, Julia Perry, William Grant Still, and Aaron Jay Kernis; and a new recording session for the album “Home-Away-Home.”

The last two seasons have taken Andy throughout Europe with performances in Glasgow at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, London at Wigmore Hall, Geneva at the Conservatoire de Musique de Geneve and at the Dresden Music Festival. He crisscrossed Canada with concerts in Halifax, Nova Scotia at the Scotia Fest, Montreal at the Festival Musique de Chambre and Vancouver at the Vancouver Chamber Music Society. And after joining James Ehnes to perform the complete Beethoven Violin Sonata cycle within Melbourne, Australia as well as a duo recital in Sydney, Andy stopped by Singapore for a solo recital.

In addition to his performance activities, Andrew serves as Artistic Director of two flourishing series in South Carolina—USC Beaufort’s Chamber Music Series and the Columbia Museum of Art’s Chamber Music on Main. In 2020, Andrew founded New Canaan Chamber Music in New Canaan, CT – he serves as Artistic Director of the thriving new series now entering its fourth season. Adding to these efforts in building communities of chamber music appreciation, Andrew will direct two concerts for Chamber Music Charleston and one for Music Worcester (MA) this 23-24 season. In Wisconsin, from 2017 through 2021, Andrew was Director of the Chamber Music Institute at Wisconsin’s Green Lake Festival of Music.

Andrew’s debut solo CD featuring was released to great critical acclaim: “I have heard few pianists play [Rachmaninoff’s Second Piano Sonata], recorded or in concert, with such dazzling clarity and confidence” (American Record Guide). He followed that success with a disc on Cordelia Records of works by Chopin, Liszt, Debussy, and the world premiere recording of Bielawa’s Wait for piano & drone. He has released several award-winning recordings with his

longtime recital partner James Ehnes — most recently Beethoven’s Sonatas Nos. 7 & 10, to stellar reviews.

In addition to his many concerts, his performances are heard regularly on National Public Radio, WQXR, New York City’s premier classical music station, and stations across the country. Andrew Armstrong lives happily in Massachusetts, with his wife Esty, their three children Jack (16), Elise (11, and Gabriel (5), and their two dogs Comet & Dooker.

Booklet for In Blue