Programme:

Wolfagang Amadeus Mozart - Sonata in B flat K. 454
Josef Suk - Four Pieces Op. 17
Robert Schumann - Sonata no. 2 in D minor

Martyn Jackson, violin
Sam Armstrong, piano

Martyn’s recent concert schedule has included solo and chamber music performances at the Wigmore Hall, Bridgewater Hall, Musikverein, Berlin Konzerthaus, Queen Elisabeth Hall, Gasteig Philharmonie, Purcell Room and King’s Place. As a soloist, he has appeared with the Berlin Symphony Orchestra, Northern Chamber Orchestra and Berliner Capella. He has performed chamber music with principle players from the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra in Milan and Rome and has also collaborated with musicians such as Henri Demarquette, Guy Johnston, Valeriy Sokolov, and Guy Ben-Ziony.

In addition to his solo concert schedule he is now leader of the Allegri Quartet, having led the Cavaleri Quartet until February 2016 when the quartet disbanded. Whilst Martyn was performing with the Cavaleri Quartet they won Second Prize at the Osaka International Chamber Music Competition 2014. Highlights of the quartet’s last few seasons included appearances at the Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, the Schubertiade in Austria and major tours of New Zealand, Australia and Colombia. They were also Quartet in Residence at Oxford University for three years.

Martyn and duo partner violist Ann Beilby were winners of the Royal Overseas League Competition Ensemble Award 2015 and look forward to future engagements at Wigmore Hall, Edinburgh Fringe Festival and a series of concerts in Lucerne. Martyn has served as guest Assistant Concertmaster of the London Symphony Orchestra, Philharmonia, and BBC Scottish Orchestra and is frequently invited to appear as guest leader of Orquestra Sinfonica do Porto Casa da Música in Portugal.

In 2008 Martyn featured alongside internationally renowned violinist and conductor Shlomo Mintz in the Holocaust documentary film “Amnon’s Journey”, a film depicting the intricate relationship between musicians and their instruments while giving voice to a lost generation. He has also broadcast live on BBC Radio 3, Bayerischer Rundfunk, Suisse Romande Television et Radio, Suddeutsches Radio and on BBC 4 television.

Martyn studied at the Hochschule für Musik “Hanns Eisler” Berlin with Professor Stephan Picard and was a Foundation Scholar at the Royal College of Music, studying with Itzhak Rashkovsky. He has frequently attended the International Musicians’ Seminar Prussia Cove and has also studied with Zakhar Bron and Ana Chumachenco.

Hailed as 'a major new talent' International Piano and a ‘pianist of splendid individuality’ Arts Desk English pianist Sam Armstrong has made solo recital debuts at the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Carnegie Hall's Weill Recital Hall in New York as well as at the Wigmore Hall in London, and as concerto soloist with the National Symphony of Ecuador.

Passionate about chamber music, he has performed with musicians including Ralph Kirshbaum, William Bennett, Hannah Roberts, Ju-Young Baek and Randall Scarlata in festivals such as Aldeburgh, Cheltenham, Mecklenburg-Vorpommen, Prussia Cove Open Chamber Music, Ravinia and in venues such as Seoul Arts Centre, Esplanade Singapore, Kumho Art Hall Seoul, and Manchester's Bridgewater Hall. He has been broadcast on BBC Radio 3, Radio Suisse-Romande/Espace 2, WQXR New York, WFMT Chicago and Radio New Zealand.

He was a prize winner in the Porto International Piano Competition, the Brant Piano Competition, Beethoven Society of Europe Competition, and was also laureate of the Epinal International Piano Competition in France. He has received awards from the Philharmonia Orchestra/MMSF, MBF/Help Musicians Fund, Wingate Foundation, Kirckman Concert Society and the Solti Foundation.

He studied with Helen Krizos in Manchester at the Royal Northern College of Music and later in New York with Richard Goode at Mannes College of Music. He also worked in masterclasses with Leon Fleisher, Murray Perahia, Pierre-Laurent Aimard and Mitsuko Uchida.

“Armstrong’s credentials are impressive, but it is as an interpretive musician that he made the bigger impact: any pianist who could plan and bring off a programme such as this clearly is one to watch.” Musical Opinion