Andy & Friends

J.S. Bach: Cello Suite No. 1 in G Major, BWV 1007

Dmitri Shostakovich: Cello Sonata in D minor, Opus 40

Alexander Arutunian: Impromptu for Cello and Piano

Gabriel Fauré: Elegy, Opus 24, for Cello and Piano

Gaspar Cassadó: Requiebros, for Cello and Piano

 Felix Mendelssohn: Variations sérieuses, Opus 54, for Piano

Fryderyk Chopin: Introduction et polonaise brillante, Opus 3

Praised by critics for his passionate expression and dazzling technique, pianist Andrew Armstrong has delighted audiences across Asia, Europe, Latin America, Australia Canada, and the United States, including performances at Alice Tully Hall, Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, London’s Wigmore Hall, the Grand Hall of the Moscow Conservatory, and Warsaw’s National Philharmonic.

Andrew’s orchestral engagements across the globe have encompassed a vast repertoire of more than 60 concertos with orchestra as well as solo recitals and in chamber music concerts at festivals around the globe.

This 2025-26 season, Andrew will perform Grazyna Bacewicz’s Piano Concerto and Beethoven’s Triple Concerto both with the South Carolina Philharmonic.  This October 2025, Andrew launches the first presentation of his Tuscan Music Festival, October 11-19.  Throughout calendar year 2026, Andrew joins longtime friend and duo partner, Two-Time Grammy Winning violinist James Ehnes in a cross-country tour across Canada, playing in each capital, province, and territory. Back in the States, year-round, Andrew directs and hosts six thriving chamber music series. Three of them are in South Carolina – in Beaufort (USCB Chamber Music), in Columbia (SC Philharmonic’s Andy & Friends), and in Greenville (Sigal Music Museum presents Andy & Friends, a combination of evening chamber music concerts and daytime workshops with students at the remarkable public arts high school, the Fine Arts Center).  He also directs New Canaan Chamber Music in Connecticut, Fabbri Chamber Concerts in NYC at Fabbri Mansion’s 1609 Italian Renaissance Library, a rare, intimate jewel with only 80 seats, and A Little Night Music at Tuckerman Hall in Worcester, MA, the vibrant city where Andrew lives happily with his wife Esty, their three children Jack (19), Elise (14), and Gabriel (8), and their dog Dooker.

The Strad magazine describes cellist Ani Aznavoorian as having “scorchingly committed performances that wring every last drop of emotion out of the music. Her technique is well-nigh immaculate, she has a natural sense of theater, and her tone is astonishingly responsive.” Ms. Aznavoorian is in demand as a soloist and chamber musician with some of the most recognized ensembles, and she has appeared with many of the world’s leading orchestras including the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Boston Pops, the Tokyo Philharmonic, the Helsinki Philharmonic, the Finnish Radio Symphony, the International Sejong Soloists, the Belgrade Philharmonic, the Juilliard Orchestra, and the Edmonton Symphony. This season marks Ms. Aznavoorian’s nineteenth year as Principal Cellist of Camerata Pacifica.

Ms. Aznavoorian received the prestigious Bunkamura Orchard Hall Award in Japan for her outstanding cello playing and artistry. She was a top prize winner in the International Paulo Competition in Helsinki, Finland and first prize winner of the Chicago Cello Society National Competition, the Julius Stulberg Competition, and the American String Teachers Association Competition. As a recipient of the Level I Award in the National Foundation for the Arts Recognition and Talent Search, Ms. Aznavoorian was named a Presidential Scholar in the Arts and performed as soloist at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. where she met former U.S. President Bill Clinton.

As a first-year student at The Juilliard School, Ms. Aznavoorian won first prize in the institution’s concerto competition—the youngest cellist in the history of the school’s cello competitions to do so. As a result, she performed with the Juilliard Orchestra in a concert with conductor Gerard Schwarz at Avery Fisher Hall. With only 12 hours notice, Ms. Aznavoorian stepped in to replace Natalia Gutman in three performances of the Shostakovich Cello Concerto No. 1 with the San Jose Symphony—concerts that were hailed by the San Jose Press. Other notable appearances include concerts at Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall, Ravinia’s Bennett Hall, Aspen’s Harris Hall, the London’s Wigmore Hall, WFMT Live from Studio 1, and NPR’s Performance Today. She has been a member of the renowned string ensemble the International Sejong Soloists, and also performs frequently at the Seattle Chamber Music Society and the Jupiter Chamber Music series in New York. Ms. Aznavoorian received both her Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from the Juilliard School where she studied with Aldo Parisot.

In addition to performing, teaching plays an important part in Ms. Aznavoorian’s career. In the summers she teaches at the Music Academy of the West and has been a member of the distinguished music faculty at the University of Illinois. Ms. Aznavoorian enjoys performing new music and has made the world premiers of many important pieces in the cello repertoire. Some of these include Ezra Laderman’s Concerto No. 2 with the Colorado Springs Philharmonic under the baton of Lawrence Leighton Smith, Lera Auerbach’s 24 Preludes for Cello and Piano on stage at the Hamburg Staatsoper with the Hamburg State Ballet—choreographed by John Neumeier, and Lera Auerbach’s Dreammusik for Cello and Chamber Orchestra, which was written for her and commissioned by Camerata Pacifica. The 2026-2027 season highlights include guest appearances as principal cellist of the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra as well as a recording project featuring her Chicagoland upbringing. Ms. Aznavoorian records for Cedille Records, and she proudly performs on a cello made by her father Peter Aznavoorian in Chicago.