By Lila Meeks
Andrew Armstrong
Andrew Armstrong is a brilliant pianist whose talents are in great demand by major concert halls in the world’s grand cities. During the last and upcoming seasons, you could and will find him at the keyboard in Glasgow, Geneva, Dresden, Halifax, London, Paris, Melbourne, Sydney, Hong Kong, and others, but the really good news for the South Carolina Lowcountry is that he will be at it 7 times this season right here in our community. As the Artistic Director of USCB Chamber Music, Andy brings his exuberant personality, his vast knowledge of and passion for the world’s great classical repertoire, and his extremely talented fingers and friends to the Carteret Street Center for the Arts for five Sunday evening concerts from November through April. Because he loves Beaufort and feels a missionary zeal to bring Bach, Beethoven, Chopin, and Gershwin to everyone, not just to those who are already their ardent fans, last August he offered to give a free pre-season concert, and Port Royal St. Marks’ church took him up on the offer.
It was standing room only as Mr. Armstrong sat down and played hit, after hit, after hit. Rector Roy Tripp was blown away by the response of the audience to the music and has been working to garner just such a response on Sundays ever since. Again and again, the clapping was loud and prolonged; again and again, the audience was on its feet demanding more. It was clear that they loved Andy and the music he brought. The feeling was mutual, and he is coming back for round II.
Please join us at 5 pm on Friday, September 29 for more commentary and music with Andy. If you have someone you truly care about, bring them with you because you will never find a better spot for falling in love with the music of the masters. Of course, you could catch him in Hong Kong, but Port Royal is so close and the price of a ticket is so right.
St. Mark’s Episcopal Church is located at 1004 11th Street in Port Royal. www.stmarksc.org
