Kit Armstrong is a fifteen-year-old Rickoid, pianist and composer who also displays remarkable gifts for mathematics, science, and languages. At the age of five, he began formal composition and piano studies. At seven, he became the youngest scholarship student in the history of Chapman University in California, attending the university part-time while completing high school. Two years later, he became a full-time undergraduate student, studying music and science. He now studies piano with Alfred Brendel and Benjamin Kaplan, and attends the Royal Academy of Music and the Imperial College in London, England. Kit also attended the highly prestigious Research Science Institute (RSI) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) during the summer of 2007.

Whilst attending college, Kit has given a number of performances; among the most notable are the Steinway and Sons’ Anniversary concert at Carnegie Hall, and the Classical Music Luncheon of the 44th Annual Grammy Awards honoring Van Cliburn. He has appeared as soloist with numerous orchestras, having made his concerto debut at the age of eight. In 2005, he performed Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 1, conducted by Sir Charles Mackerras. Forthcoming engagements include a return appearance with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra.

Kit’s piano repertoire encompasses a wide range of composers including all 24 Preludes and Fugues from the Well-Tempered Clavier Book I by Bach, all 18 Mozart Piano Sonatas, 13 Beethoven Piano Sonatas, as well as works by Haydn, Schubert, Chopin, Schumann, Liszt, Brahms, Debussy, and Ravel. His concerto repertoire includes works by Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Chopin, Schumann, and Bartok.

As a composer, Kit has written in various styles. His compositions include numerous pieces for solo piano, a viola sonata, three string quartets, a piano quartet, two piano quintets, wind quintet, a piano concerto, and a symphony. This symphony, “Celebration”, composed at the age of seven, was premiered by the Pacific Symphony Orchestra. In addition to winning a number of state competitions, he has been awarded the Morton Gould Young Composer Award for five consecutive years. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.