Acclaimed Worcester pianist Andrew Armstrong ready for ‘electric’ concert at BrickBox

Internationally acclaimed Worcester pianist Andrew Armstrong has a flurry of concerts in New England, New York City and South Carolina this month before taking off for Europe at the end of January with an itinerary that includes performances in London, Scotland and the Netherlands. A busy year is ahead. “That’s an understatement. I’ve got my seat belt buckled,” Armstrong said during a recent telephone interview with a dash of relish in his voice. “I’m really excited for the upcoming concerts in the UK and the Netherlands. I really enjoy sort of soaking up the different cultures and adding that to my vocabulary.” But there’s also no place like home, and Worcester has been home for Armstrong since 2015. Home is where the heart is — and in this case, it is where his wife, Esty, is from.

And one of the January concerts will be a performance in Worcester at 7:30 p.m. Jan. 24 at the BrickBox Theater at the Jean McDonough Arts Center presented by Music Worcester.

Armstrong also conveyed plenty of enthusiasm about this concert. “I think the atmosphere that night will be really electric. The space will be full and buzzing,” he said.

‘It was important we celebrate together’

The program will include Armstrong playing a solo arrangement of George Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue,” which was written 100 years ago this year.

“We’ll be just a few weeks shy of the 100th birthday. I thought it was important

Music Worcester — Andrew Armstrong, piano, Jan Volger, cello, Kevin Zhu, violin

7:30 p.m. Jan. 14

BrickBox Theater at the Jean McDonough Arts Center, 20 Franklin St., Worcester

$55; students $17.50; youth $7.50. musicworcester.org

we celebrate together,” Armstrong said.

The concert brings Armstrong together with German-born cellist Jan Volger and American violinist Kevin Zhu, who Armstrong

called friends and “globe-trotting superstars.”

Armstrong, Volger and Zhu will each perform solo works before combining to play Tchaikovsky’s long, haunting, elegiac Trio in A minor.

Volger will play Bach’s famous and expressive Cello Suite No. 1 in G Major, and Zhu will perform Paganini’s virtuosic Selected Caprices for violin solo. Volger and Armstrong will also combine to perform Henry Mancini’s timeless “Moon River” arranged for cello and piano. “Jan (Volger) put that together. It’s just so adoring the way he presents the piece,” Armstrong said.

The three will be bringing the program to a couple of other venues as well, but the

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