Pianist to play concerto with ‘real romantic soul’

Andrew Armstrong was the youngest pianist to enter the 1993 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition. He was also the most improbable.

Armstrong, who performs Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 24 in C minor this weekend with the Omaha Symphony, was just 19 when entered the famed competition in Fort Worth, Texas.

Unlike the other contestants, who were mostly polished professionals in their late twenties, Armstrong had been playing seriously for only about five years. He was also an English major, not a student at a top music school or conservatory.

“I made it as far as the semifinals,” Armstrong said in a recent phone interview. “The whole time I was thinking, ‘Don’t these people realize what an amateur I am?’”

Born in Detroit and raised in Connecticut, Armstrong began playing piano at age 7. But he was an indifferent student who rarely practiced and had little understanding of proper piano technique. “I played with so much tension that I could barely handle a Chopin nocturne after seven years of study,” he said.

At 14, Armstrong had a life-altering experience. He heard legendary pianist Arthur Rubinstein’s recording of Chopin’s Ballade No. 1 in G minor. He decided at that moment to become a concert pianist.

As luck would have it, he found a teacher, Miyoko Nakaya Lotto, who emphasized an approach to piano that focused on relaxing the muscles. Soon Armstrong was winning student competitions.

He entered the Cliburn almost on a lark. “My teacher was curious to see how I’d do in a professional competition,” Armstrong said. Van Cliburn himself gave Armstrong a standing ovation, and the Cliburn jury awarded him its discretionary award.

In the years since, Armstrong has learned a huge chunk of the standard piano literature and has mastered an astounding 70 piano concertos.

The Mozart concerto he’ll play in Omaha “is a concerto with a real romantic soul,” he said.

Contact the writer:

444-1076, john.pitcher@owh.com

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