Education
Kit Armstrong was born into a non-musical family. He displayed remarkable gifts for science, languages and mathematics. At the age of 5, and without access to a piano, he taught himself music composition by reading an abridged encyclopaedia. He subsequently started formal piano and composition studies with Mark Sullivan and Michael Martin (1997 – 2001).
Armstrong has always pursued music and academic education in parallel. He attended Garden Grove Christian School (1997 - 1998), Anaheim Discovery Christian School (1998 – 1999), Los Alamitos High School and Orange County High School of the Arts (1999 – 2001). While in high school, he studied physics at California State University at Long Beach and music composition at Chapman University.
At the age of 9, Armstrong became a full-time undergraduate student at Utah State University studying biology, physics, mathematics as well as music (2001 – 2002). In 2003, Armstrong enrolled at the Curtis Institute of Music studying piano with Eleanor Sokoloff and Claude Frank, while simultaneously taking courses in chemistry and mathematics at the University of Pennsylvania. In 2004, Armstrong moved to London to continue his music education at the Royal Academy of Music studying piano with Benjamin Kaplan and composition with Paul Patterson, Christopher Brown and Gary Carpenter. In parallel, he studied pure mathematics at the Imperial College, London (2004 – 2008).
Armstrong received Bachelor of Music degree with First Class Honours from Royal Academy of Music, University of London in performance in 2008 and Master of Science degree with honours from Pierre and Marie Curie University, Paris in mathematics in 2012.
Armstrong has studied regularly with Alfred Brendel since 2005.
Read more about this topic: Kit Armstrong
Famous quotes containing the word education:
“It’s fairly obvious that American education is a cultural flop. Americans are not a well-educated people culturally, and their vocational education often has to be learned all over again after they leave school and college. On the other hand, they have open quick minds and if their education has little sharp positive value, it has not the stultifying effects of a more rigid training.”
—Raymond Chandler (1888–1959)
“There are words in that letter to his wife, respecting the education of his daughters, which deserve to be framed and hung over every mantelpiece in the land. Compare this earnest wisdom with that of Poor Richard.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)