DANBURY, CONN. — The Western Connecticut State University department of music and the Keyboard Club will present award-winning pianist Andrew Armstrong in concert at 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 20, in Ives Concert Hall in White Hall on the university’s Midtown campus, 181 White St. in Danbury. The public is invited; tickets will be $15 for adults, and $10 for seniors and non-WestConn students. WestConn students will be admitted free with valid ID.

Armstrong is the recipient of more than 25 national and international awards, among them the Jury Discretionary Award at the 1993 Van Cliburn Competition, where he was the youngest entrant. He also was named Gilmore Young Artist in 1996. Over the past decade, he has performed in solo recitals and with orchestras worldwide from Eastern Europe and Asia to Kennedy Center and Carnegie Hall. His busy schedule during the 2006-07 season has included appearances as the featured soloist with Naumburg Concerts at New York City’s Central Park, in concert with the Columbus Symphony directed by Gunther Herbig, and concerto performances of works by Chopin, Saint-Saens, Brahms and other composers.

Armstrong’s mastery of a diverse repertoire ranging from Bach to Gershwin and Mozart to Tchaikovsky has earned lavish praise from reviewers who cite his passionate expression and brilliant technique in performance.

A 2001 review in the Key West Citizen read, “Armstrong was at one with the piano, a challenging feat with Maurice Ravel. … Armstrong performed it like it was truth itself and received an ovation not only from the audience but the orchestra too, the players tapping their feet on the stage until the floor shook.”   

Reviewing his 2003 performance of a Mendelssohn concerto, the Staten Island Advance wrote, “If one goes by his dazzling technique, striking stage presence and exciting performance with the Staten Island Symphony, we will probably be hearing a lot more about Armstrong in the future.” A 2005 review in the Traverse City Record-Eagle proclaimed, “Andrew Armstrong may possibly be the finest soloist to guest with the orchestra.”

Armstrong’s recent performances in Connecticut have won similar critical praise. A review in the Ridgefield Press in 2002 noted Armstrong “has the sort of technical discipline and control that, in combination with sensitive attention to phrasing articulation and nuance, lend sparkling clarity to technically brilliant passages and imbure more lyric segments with expressive flexibility and depth of feeling. He also has the kind of stage presence that provides a significant dimension to a live musical performance.”

Armstrong’s debut CD, released in 2004, featured Rachmaninov’s Second Sonata, Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition, and Scriabin’s Ninth Piano Sonata. Writing in American Record Guide, Bradley Bolen observed that the Mussorgsky and Scriabin works were “well suited to this fine pianist’s sense of orchestral-like color,” while noting that “I have heard few pianists play (the Rachmaninov sonata), on record or in concert, with such dazzling clarity and confidence.”

In addition to his career as a concert pianist, Armstrong has committed many hours to outreach programs and children’s programs. His live and recorded performances also are featured regularly on classical music shows aired on National Public Radio and the New York City classical station WQXR.

For more information or to purchase tickets, call (203) 837-8499 or visit www.wcsu.edu/tickets.